Misunderstood
by Slurpee Monster
Summary: With Laes once again inside the Irkens' prison system, Darden finds himself searching for a new purpose. Meanwhile the Resisty is barely surviving, and the enemy the Irkens are fighting against keeps drawing closer to both Irk and Vort... but are the worms really the galaxy's biggest threat? (Takes place after Misunderstandings)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** This should be the final and only continuation of Misunderstandings. Hopefully most of the unanswered questions will be answered, and everything will be brought to a decent resolution. That's the hope/goal anyway.

* * *

 **Outside vs Inside**

He could still hear their cries of fear. Their voices continued to plague his nightmares. Once the ship had been tampered with to such a degree the Irkens had easily infiltrated and captured all of the members on board. Drent had always been a bit more reckless than the average crew member, but he never guessed the captain would have taken so many risks just to obtain a few weapons…

Drent was dead. They might not have always gotten along, but Drent had still been an important part of the Resisty.

Now Shloonktapooxis was the only captain left.

His eyes blinked open, and he stared up at the ceiling, drawing his blanket up to his neck. He didn't want to get up… he never did. Every time he woke he had to will himself to move. Eventually he would force himself out of bed because he was still needed.

Shloonktapooxis had proven himself to be a decent captain, but no one really understood the finer mechanics of the ship. If something broke apart they knew how to weld and patch it back together again, but if something went wrong with the computer system there wasn't much they could do.

That's why before he left the Resisty to return to Vort he gave them blueprints and instructions. He tried to make everything as easy to understand as possible. There had been many sleepless nights as he poured over the instructions over and over again, simplifying and re-simplifying. When he finally thought he'd made everything as clear as he could, he'd gone to turn himself in.

He brought one of his hands in front of his face. The Irkens had taken his eye and two of his fingers… he was lucky he hadn't been maimed more. Then he thought about how Laes had lost his hand and he squeezed his eyes shut.

How could he let that happen? His cellmate was innocent. He hadn't meant to drag Laes into any of this…

Even so… Laes survived every situation. A regular Vortian civilian shouldn't have been able to, but Laes did due to a mix of good luck and Irken intervention.

He never thought he'd see the day an Irken would go out of their way to help a Vortian... but Bann had done this... and so had Darden.

He dropped his hand back down and let out a sigh. How many times had he told his crew not to rescue him? The Irkens would do anything to annihilate them… Lard Nar had been prepared to face all kinds of tortures in order to protect the Resisty. He never expected to survive his ordeal.

Even now he was still worried the Irkens would destroy Vort because of his blatant defiance…

At least the Irkens appeared to be too preoccupied with the worms to pay attention to the Resisty right now. That was something he was grateful for.

How long would this indifference last though? Bludon was gone, and the Resisty's 3rd ship, which was now their second, had only been able to rescue a handful of Bludonians. The Meekrob decided to completely cut off ties to anyone off their planet with a giant force-field currently replacing their atmosphere. None of the resistance had heard anything from Plookesia lately which was probably a bad sign.

Their numbers were falling. Their movement was crumbling. If things kept going in this direction there might not be any resistance left.

"Um… sir?" Shloonktapooxis voice sounded muffled and quiet through the door. For some reason the ship's current captain still called him "sir."

He slowly propped himself up and cleared his throat. "Yes Shloon?" he responded loud enough for Shloonktapooxis to hear.

"We um… just received some bad news..."

His body tensed, and his hands gripped the blanket. "Bad news…?" he repeated. There had been enough of that these past few months. He didn't want to imagine what else had gone wrong.

"Yes sir… apparently Foodcourtia has been quarantined. No one is allowed leave the planet…" Shloonktapooxis paused for a moment before continuing. "The Irkens have been arresting rebels from the underground movement there apparently… can I come in?"

His breath caught in his throat. Laes. He'd left Laes on that planet. The Irkens wouldn't mistake Laes for a rebel though. They couldn't.

He dragged a hand down his face. But they would. Laes had gotten himself too involved with the Resisty lately... just being on board their ship was probably enough to warrant a death sentence.

"Yes… alright..." he agreed.

The door slid open and Shloonktapooxis floated through the doorway.

"Any news on what happens to the prisoners?" Lard Nar asked. His voice sounded calm, but his mind was already starting to panic. What was going to happen to Laes and to the other members of the Resisty who decided months ago to stay behind on that planet?

"No… not a word," Shloonktapooxis admitted with a downcast expression. It wasn't very long ago the current captain had been full of bright ideas and smiles. Nowadays it was rare to see even a slight smile from Shloonktapooxis.

Fear and tragedy had changed them all.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, pushing the blanket aside before moving to the edge of the bed. "I'm not your leader anymore… whatever we do... it's your decision."

"Boss… I know you've been through a lot recently… but..." he sighed and raised his eyes to meet his former captain's. "But I could really use your help. I don't always know what I'm doing, and I really appreciate your experience, you know?"

"I never knew what I was doing when I was captain," Lard Nar responded, rubbing his temples as he breathed a sigh.

"You built the ship's hologram device, got us connected with Bludon and Meekrob, and you secured our main communication line while also introducing several others."

"The Ultarian wave signal has been compromised," Lard Nar suddenly remembered, jerking his head up and locking eyes with the captain.

"To be fair sir, that one's always been compromised."

Right… Of course it was. That was the one everybody used. It had never been secure.

"Captain Shloonktapooxis!" someone shouted from the hallway. "Captain! An Irken vessel! It's heading straight for us!"

"The holographic shields are up," Shloonktapooxis stated, spinning around to face the frightened crew member .

"I don't know how, but it's locked onto us!" the person exclaimed. "Every time we move it follows! What should we do!?"

"There can't be something wrong with the hologram..." Lard Nar spoke, and he slid out of bed.

He'd slept in his uniform so it was a bit wrinkled. He couldn't care less about his appearance though. Not when there was a potentially hostile Irken vessel heading towards them.

"I did a full scan of it last night and everything was running normally."

"Maybe it's using up too much core energy?" Shloonktapooxis asked.

Core energy was vital for most functions, including the ship's invisibility. Initially the cloaking device had used up too much energy, but he reworked a lot of things to get rid of this problem.

"No, I checked that too," Lard Nar responded with confidence. While the hologram generator still used a lot of power, he made sure there was plenty of energy left over.

"I'll have everyone get to the controls," Shloonktapooxis decided as he hurriedly floated through the hallway. If they were attacked, they were going to put up a fight.

They were supposed to meet with the other Resisty ship near the Plookesian district. It was probably already waiting for them. There were going to be a few Bludonians joining their crew, though Lard Nar doubted they would do much in the way of perpetuating violence. Still, numbers were numbers, and since losing one of their ships, and the Meekrob's backing, they could really use more people joining their cause.

He followed Shloonktapooxis to the control room and immediately noted the lack of panic. One of the crew members appeared to be speaking to someone on the monitor. Were the Irkens really letting them go again? It was hard to believe.

"Um… Lard Nar sir..." the crew member who'd been speaking turned to address the former captain. "The Irken wishes to speak with you um… directly I guess."

Lard Nar slowly approached the monitor. Maybe Laes had a change of heart and asked the Irken to take him back… he swallowed. Hopefully that was it… he didn't need anymore bad news today.

It was Darden. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief, but then he didn't see Laes anywhere on screen. He leaned in close, and the crew member moved his chair back to give the former captain more space.

"What happened?" Lard Nar asked him. He was trying to sound calm, but he was already beginning to feel the familiar weight of dread settling inside his chest. "Where's Laes?"

"On Vort," Darden responded. The Irken had an unreadable expression. It was a bit unnerving.

"You turned him in…?" Lard Nar's voice trailed off. Of course he would. Darden was an Irken… the soldier probably saw his opportunity to get right with the Tallest and took it. That's what Irkens did.

"He's the one who wanted to go there," Darden responded, glaring as he crossed his arms. "I allowed it because right now Vort is safer than Foodcourtia." He pause briefly then continued. "I stopped to speak with you because your vessel is currently heading towards Plookesia. Their planet is no longer there. The inhabitants are gone; dispersed or dead due to the infestation." His antennae flicked back. "You'll be better off finding a different route."

"How did you locate us?" Lard Nar asked. He was sure there was nothing wrong with their cloak of invisibility… they shouldn't be leaving any trace on any radars.

Darden smirked. "I placed a tracker somewhere on board your ship. If you do a full scan of the interior you should be able to find it."

"Why did…?"

"I assumed Laes would change his mind about Foodcourtia and would want to return," Darden interrupted. He sounded annoyed now. He unfolded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I was wrong. He's more stubborn than I gave him credit for."

"If you're no longer with Laes… then what are you planning to do?" The Irken wasn't someone the Resisty could trust. As soon as he was able to, Lard Nar was planning to search for the tracker and destroy it.

Darden frowned. "I don't know." He admitted. "But I do know this sector isn't safe. You need to move away from it now before you're noticed." He added, "invisible or not, you won't survive flying into a swarm."

An Irken wasn't used to thinking outside of the Empire. The loyalty they had for their Tallest and their society went beyond what most people could understand. Even Vortians who'd worked with Irkens for a long time didn't fully comprehend it.

An Irken that was completely alone, cut off from the Empire, would be better off dead. That was how their society worked. That's what they all believed.

Lard Nar had no sympathy for Irkens. He'd been threatened, imprisoned, tortured, and his crew had been shot down and killed by them. He had no desire to associate with them at all.

He only tolerated Bann and Darden because of Laes. For some reason his cellmate saw Irkens as possible allies even though Laes had also been treated brutally by the guards.

He was tired though. Everyday he struggled with his fears of being caught, of his companions being slaughtered, and the idea that the Irkens would torture Ixane or Shloonktapooxis in front of him. Most of the time the worms were only a passing thought. As long as the Resisty stayed within the boundaries of Irken controlled space they didn't need to worry about getting devoured by those creatures.

At least the Armada made a good shield.

"Shlit..." Darden was typing something. His eyes widened a bit. What was he looking at exactly? "The worms are coming this way and there are no planets between us to slow them down."

"Oh Galre… he's right..." one of the crew spoke from his spot. The picture on the monitor cut out and was replaced by a view of the outside. Off in the distance was what looked like a large mass of writhing worms heading straight for them.

"I hope your ship can withstand some heat," Darden's voice echoed through the speakers. The audio from the transmission was still on. "Fly fast towards the nearest star. These things hate overly high temperatures."

Lard Nar was paralyzed. He didn't know what he should be doing right now. He glanced at Shloonktapooxis who was gaping at the picture of the worms on the screen.

"What are you people doing!?" Darden snapped; his calm tone was completely gone now.

There was a loud thud and their ship was jostled. Had the Irken just rammed them?

"Get moving!"

"Y-yes," Shloonktapooxis stammered, and he looked at the pilot and the co-pilot. "Let's do what he says for now… um… yeah."

* * *

Laes was feeling just a tad bit confused. He'd expected to be beaten a few times on his way to his cell, but that hadn't happened. Instead Pain and Buckram escorted him to the showers so he could wash off the horrible worm and jungle residue that was probably still on his person. Then he'd changed into a new prison uniform that still had his old number on it.

He was kind of expecting to have a -1 label or something on his clothes. It was a bit of a surprise when he saw it was 777; the same number he'd always had.

"It's tough out there isn't it?" Pain questioned, and Laes risked glancing up at the guard's face. The Irken didn't look upset at all.

Blinking, Laes quickly returned his gaze to the spotless floor. It was still as clean and shiny as ever. He grabbed his bad arm and held it close to him. Pain had been the one to hack off his hand, so he was a little uncomfortable right now. "Y-yeah..." he agreed after some hesitation.

"You made the right choice," Buckram spoke. That was weird… it almost sounded like the guard was comforting him or something. Maybe he fainted after leaving the ship and he was currently being hauled around unconscious. This could all just be a dream right now… but then... where was Bann? The dead soldier always showed up to haunt his dreams.

"Our people are dying every day out there… at least in here you'll be safe."

Safe? Laes could feel himself tensing. Was the prison really safe? The guards were merciless with their zappy sticks. A lot of Vortians had died even after the invasion… how could he be safe?

"Here you go," Pain spoke as he and Buckram came to a stop outside of the electric force field of one of the cells. The electricity parted, and Laes took a deep breath before stepping inside.

Once the field closed behind him he sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. He almost had a heart attack already. Being around the Irken guards again with no way to escape if anything went horrible made his stomach do flips.

"Laes?" That… that sounded like… he slowly lifted his eyes. It was too late though. Whoever else was in the cell had just wrapped their arms around him. He was hugged to the point he could hardly catch his breath. "I can't believe it! Our Laes is here!"

"D-dad…?" Laes questioned in confusion. He managed to slip out of her grasp, and he fell somewhat awkwardly onto the floor. "Why are… how are you…?"

His dad's lighthearted tone changed to a more serious one. "We were worried you know," he spoke, and Laes felt himself getting pulled off the ground. "How did you end up getting involved with the rebels? I heard you left with them some time ago."

"I… I didn't have much of a choice..." Laes responded. He couldn't believe it. His father was still alive.

"Kidnapped?" His father gasped, covering his mouth.

"No no… I mean I tried to escape here first but… dad… my cellmate was being driven insane and slowly killed to death..." because being killed usually resulted in death. Right. His brain wasn't working properly now. He felt kind of dazed. Was this a dream? "I couldn't just watch…"

"Oh, so that's how it was!" His father exclaimed, and he let out a sigh. "I thought you were following in my footsteps for a while there… I mean. Gang violence is bad."

Laes raised an invisible brow. He wasn't sure if he should question what his father was saying or if he should ignore it. "Yeah… so… mom 's still alive?"

"Oh yes. She's plenty alive," his father agreed with a nod. "We got to spend a lovely time in a desert simulation not long ago. Apparently it reminded her of a vacation she took that one time way back..." His eyes wandered to his son's missing hand. "Oh wow… son. Your hand. What happened to it?"

Laes glanced down at his stump. "The Irkens cut it off," he replied without giving it much thought. His eyelids felt heavy and he was feeling light headed. It was a relief to know his father was still alive and his mother probably was too. What about his niece though?

"Have you heard anything about Latikka?"

His father's expression fell. Oh no… did something bad happen to her? "Latikka died during the invasion… I thought you knew…"

He probably did know that… he probably just didn't want to remember.

"It was the debris remember?" His father continued. "Her dad told us about it while we were in that giant cage thing before the prison was constructed. She was crushed to death. She died instantly."

Of course. He remembered his sister's husband saying that now… at least his parents were both ok though. Yeah. At least they weren't dead.

"Laes… are you ok?" his father asked.

"No," Laes responded; his vision blurring from the tears. His sister, Juelee, Bann, Gashloog, and Latikka. They were dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. He started to tremble and he covered his face with his hand. He sank back down onto the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

His father reacted with no hesitation at all. Laes felt his father's arms around him again, gentler this time, and then very slowly he was rocked a little from side to side. "There there son..." his father's voice was calm and soothing. "I'm here for you… it's going to be alright."

"S-so much happened..." Laes whimpered. It was hard to breath. He didn't want to think at all right now.

"Life can really be harsh sometimes can't it?" his father responded, hugging him a little tighter. "Cry all you want ok? It's not good to bottle it up."

"D-dad…?" Laes brought his hand down and opened his eyes. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"Yes?"

He sucked in a shaky breath. "Why are they both gone...?"

"They might be dead son, but they're not gone," his father responded. He continued the slow rocking motion. "Whenever someone dies they're not gone. We still have our memories of them. Plus no matter how dead they are, our feelings for them won't change. I still love my little girls no matter what."

Laes was pretty sure this was the most sentimental he'd ever heard his father be. He wiped away his tears and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Do… do you ever dream about them?" he asked.

"Oh yes," his father answered, and he stopped rocking. "I see them both in my dreams sometimes. They're always together and they always look happy. It's like they're telling me not to worry about them and that they're doing ok even though they're not alive anymore."

Laes grasped his father's hand to him. His father was a smart guy, but he was also someone who was easy to talk to. "Thanks dad..."

"Of course Laes, anytime," his father responded, hugging him more than before. "Cry whenever you need to, and if you need to talk about anything I'm going to be right here because, well, I can't really go anywhere else, but even if I had the choice I'd choose to stay here with you."

"You're lying." Laes managed to smile. "You'd choose to be with mom if you could."

His dad let go of him and sat back. "Now Laes, you and I both know if I left you right now she'd hit me for it, probably more than once. She loves us both and I'm sure she's happy we're here together."

"You're probably right about that," Laes agreed, and he glanced over at the cot nearest to him. It looked a little bare."So… is that one mine?"

"Ah yeah… hang on I owe you a blanket and a pillow," his father responded as he stood up and walked over to the other cot. "I was lying on them since the mattresses here are harder than the floor. I'd sleep on the floor but its too cold right? So yeah." he reached for the extra blanket and pillow on his caught and grabbed them both.

"Do we still have that grey mush stuff to eat…?" Laes questioned, wanting to hope but knowing he'd probably be disappointed if he did.

"Yes, twice a day," his father nodded. "That hasn't changed at all unfortunately."

Laes deflated a little. Even though he expected that answer he still felt disappointed. "We're still making ships and weapons right?"

"Yes, but no more inventing," his father replied as he passed the pillow and blanket to him. "It's all about production now. We make Gigadoomers and the new models of Spittle Runners mostly. All day. Every day." He perked up a bit. "My shift starts in a couple hours." His expression brightened. "Maybe they'll put you on my team."

"There's shifts now?" Laes asked, blinking. Just how much had changed since he'd been gone? He wasn't even gone for that long.

"Yup. Twelve hours give or take..." His father frowned thoughtfully. "Actually, just give. We don't really work less than that." He grinned. "But that's ok. It's not like we're doing anything else right now. Besides, no one is really sure if we should get used to everything because the Tallest haven't been by to officially approve the changes yet. At least that's what someone heard one of the guards muttering about the other day."

"Umm… well, now that you mention it... one of the Tallest might be dead," Laes offered.

His father shook his head and sighed. "We're going to be waiting a long time before something's finally made official then."

Laes managed to smile. His dad hadn't changed at all. He found this a bit comforting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes/Hopeful update schedule:** I'm going to try to be consistent and update this every two to three weeks. That's my goal. Wish me luck.

* * *

 **Under the Influence**

"Pass me the –- son."

Laes thought he heard his father talking, but he wasn't really listening.

Pass the what? He handed his father a screwdriver.

He was drowning in his own thoughts again. What happened to Darden? How close were the worms? Whatever happened to the jungle planet? Would they ever be able to recover Juelee's body? How was Lard Nar doing now that he was safely outside of the Empire?

There was too much to think about...

"Son, could you please pass me the -?"

His father was talking again. Maybe he handed him the wrong screwdriver? He reached into the large tool box and pulled out a different screwdriver. He passed it to his father before letting his mind sink back into its endless cycle.

Then he felt a hand clap him on the shoulder and he flinched and partially curled into a ball of semi-protection.

"Why do you keep handing me these?" His father asked, holding both screwdrivers in front of him before dropping them back into the box. "I need a hammer."

"Ohh..." Laes uncurled enough to reach back into the toolbox. Then he handed the hammer to his father.

"Are you doing ok Laes?" His father asked, taking a pause in his work. "You seem a bit distracted. I mean you're more distracted than usual."

"I'm just..."

Suddenly a zappy stick was in his face, and he glanced up at Pain who was scowling down at him. "Less talking, more working," he demanded.

Laes grasped his stump protectively and gave a quick nod. His heart was pounding and he just realized he was holding his breath. He was probably going to have a panic attack soon if he couldn't calm himself.

"We were multitasking, Vortians are good multitaskers," his father said, looking the Irken in the eyes.

Pain didn't look convinced, so his father tried again.

"You and I both know zapping him isn't going to make the work get done any faster."

The other Vortians were keeping their eyes on what they were doing. They didn't want to get involved.

Laes wished he wasn't involved either, but he was. He was always getting himself involved in something. Why was he always involving himself in something?

Tears blurred his vision and he crumpled to the ground again. Why couldn't he control his emotions anymore? Everything should be fine now right? His parents were alive… he was alive… Lard Nar was likely still alive… but so many others were dead.

Thwack!

His father had been struck. Laes huddled closer to himself and buried his face in his knees.

"I won't say it again!" Pain insisted, and he could hear the electricity getting closer. "Get back to..."

There was a fizzling sound. Laes risked a quick look and saw everyone was frozen. There was static all around them. Then a bright light flashed, and Pain started flickering in and out.

What was going on? He scrambled to his feet and glanced around. His father was lying on the ground looking less faded than everyone else was. Hold on… was this… was this a program? Was his mind trapped inside another machine?

"No..." he whispered, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes closed. "No no no…." How long had he been in here? Were his parents both dead? They were probably dead… just like his sister and his niece…

Now he understood what desperation felt like… wanting to escape but knowing you never could.

Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself. This was what Lard Nar must have been feeling. Was this what despair and hopelessness was like? ...No wonder his former cellmate tried to electrocute himself to death.

" _Laes..."_

His eyes snapped open and he quickly glanced around. Someone said his name just now… was it his own mind saying that? Or the program? What were they expecting him to do…? How many times was he going to have to die this time before they let him leave?

" _Laes… here… look..."_ the voice was very quiet. It was difficult to make out what the person or whatever was saying over the sound of static.

Then Pain started to move, and Laes let out a small yelp of surprise. He bit his lip and stumbled backwards, hopefully out of range of the zappy stick. The scythe looking thing wasn't being brandished anymore though. Instead it was being held loosely, and it was pointed away from him.

Pain offered him a smile, and he held out his hand. "It's ok." Those words were clear, but the program wasn't talking. Pain's mouth wasn't moving at all. Still, his voice was very familiar.

"B-Bann?" Laes stammered; his eyes wide in disbelief. He rubbed his bad arm nervously. "Are you… are you really here…?" The static sound was growing fainter, but the other Vortians were still flickering and whatever they'd been working on was fazing in and out. Surprisingly his father seemed to be affected the least, although the older Vortian was still frozen in place.

"Do you know anyone else who would enter an Irken program just to talk to you?" Bann responded in good humor.

"I kind of thought after you die you're supposed to move on... to… I dunno… some place else…?" Laes responded, but he didn't really want to look at Pain. It was better just to hear Bann's voice and pretend the Irken himself was standing there instead of the program of the prison guard who maimed him.

"Well I was supposed to have my data absorbed by the Control Brains one day, but that didn't happen," Bann replied.

"I'm not trying to be like… offensive or anything..." Laes spoke between chewing his lip. "But...I didn't think… you know… Irkens had like… soul-ghosts or whatever you call them..." He was totally being offensive, but he didn't know how else to bring this up.

Bann breathed a sigh. He was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke his voice was soft."Well… I don't know much about that… but Irkens having souls isn't an impossible thing, is it?"

"Of course it's not..." Laes responded. "But…" he fidgeted.

"They left the piece you took from the hologram device on top of the machine," Bann answered. The Irken probably assumed Laes was looking for an explanation, because he continued, "the device somehow took my memories and my personality files from my PAK I guess…" he paused for a moment.

"It's a PAK's first priority to find something to transfer to when the host body is dying… and my body was in the process of shutting down before Darden stabbed me. For some reason my PAK found the hologram device compatible."

"How are you getting into my dreams though?" Laes questioned with a frown.

Every machine could be pulled apart and figured out, even the most complicated ones. How could a piece from a small disguise making device not only download and hold onto Bann's data but also transfer said data into another machine? Or was it the Irken's PAK program doing that?

Machine to machine transfer did make some sense… but to have that data entered into his mind somehow…? It would have to be a simulator wouldn't it? That's what didn't make sense… or maybe it did. Maybe he was over-thinking everything.

It was a Bludonian device mostly wasn't it? That's probably why it didn't make sense. Vortian logic would be different from Bludonian logic.

The device was strange though... Bludonians were not known for being very technologically advanced... he was pretty sure they didn't care much about technology at all... so how did they make something so complicated...?

Bann shrugged. "I probably know less about the actual functions of the device than you do. I just know that my PAK would have tried to find a new host as I was dying. I have no idea why it accepted the hologram thing as a replacement or how its able to enter your dreams." He was quiet for a moment. Then he continued: "So it's not my soul that's haunting you Laes. It's my programming."

"Oh..." Laes responded. He didn't want to think about these things anymore. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep for a while.

"That hurts the whole "Irkens have souls" argument a bit, doesn't it?" Bann tried to joke.

Laes couldn't even muster a smile. There was a small awkward pause. Then the dead soldier spoke again.

"Do you want to wake up?"

"I'm sleeping?" Laes asked, raising his eyes a little. He was looking at Pain's chest plate now. He still didn't want to look at the guard's face. Even though he knew it was Bann, it would still be Pain's eyes staring back at him… he didn't want to see that.

"Sort of… they have your mind suspended in this simulation. Your father's too… but I can't wake him up."

Laes' eyes widened. "W-what do you mean you can't wake him up…?" he questioned in a soft whisper. He was afraid to hear the answer. His father might not be able to wake up… which meant the guards had done something horrible to him.

"He just can't or won't wake up..." Bann responded, and the Irken guard shifted uncomfortably. "I haven't heard enough pieces of their conversations to figure out exactly why yet… but when I do I'll let you know."

Laes felt like crying again. He wouldn't though… not now. He just needed some time… and to focus on breathing for a little while. He closed his eyes and hugged himself.

"Laes…" Bann's voice sounded closer. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from whimpering. "When you wake up you have to grab the device alright? It's the only way I can communicate with you."

"Y-yes… ok..." Laes agreed with a slight nod.

"There are no guards in the room right now."

"Oh… ok…"

"I think the machine is alarmed though, so it's going to be loud and crazy in a few moments… I want you to be mentally prepared for that," he pulled Laes into a somewhat awkward half-embrace. "Take the device and stick it into one of the ports in your computer."

"They won't let me keep it..." Laes mumbled, and he weakly tried to push the guard away from him.

"Don't let them know you have it," Bann concluded.

How was he supposed to do that? Laes wondered. He was bad at lying, and he doubted he would be any good at hiding things either.

* * *

That had been a close call.

Lard Nar breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last worm disappear on the monitors. He thought Darden would have used this opportunity to slip away, but the Irken's ship was still beside theirs.

They had gotten as close to the nearest star as they could. It was blinding, and hot, but the shields were keeping everyone safe.

If Darden hadn't said anything, they'd all be dead right now.

Lard Nar shut his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. That was a sobering thought… the Resisty owed the Irken a debt didn't they? The soldier saved their lives… but the idea of owing an Irken anything caused a shiver to run up his spine. How could he accept it when the Irkens had already killed so many of them?

He flinched when the call light started flashing. Darden was calling them. He didn't want to answer. Someone else could do it. He rubbed his temples and turned away from the monitor.

Shloonktapooxis took the hint and answered the call himself. "Um… yes?" he began, sounding uncertain. The ordeal had shaken the captain a bit. It had shaken everyone. There was no way they could continue like this...

There had even been some talk of disbanding.

"If their nest is nearby they'll come back this way," Darden said, getting straight to the point as usual. "Have you been following the Irken broadcast signals?"

"Well..." Shloonktapooxis glanced at Lard Nar who was purposefully avoiding eye-contact. "Not really… I mean… it would be easier for them to track us if we did… so we just um… listen to other signals that might have good information..."

"A part of the Armada should be travelling along the outskirts of this sector in the next little while..." Darden continued.

Did he even consider he might be betraying the Empire right now Lard Nar wondered?

"Let them pass by. Then when they are nearly out of range on your monitors, follow them." Darden cleared his throat. "If the worms return you'll have some protection, just remove the tracker and you will be virtually untraceable."

There was no way for them to tell whether or not Darden was lying. The Irken had always been very straightforward and blunt when giving information… Lard Nar met Darden's gaze. He swallowed and managed a slight nod. The soldier returned the smile. It wasn't malicious either.

"Good. Stay alive," Darden remarked before ending the call.

Lard Nar continued to stare at the black screen long after the transmission had ended.

Darden could have killed them. The thought of this made it hard to breath. He clutched his chest and closed his eyes. They were safe… for the moment everyone was safe. That's what mattered right now…

"His ship is gone..." Shloonktapooxis commented, breaking the uneasy silence. He was floating from station to station, checking the different screens. "I also can't locate our other ship on the monitors..."

Lard Nar's eyes widened. No…no! Their other ship… they hadn't gotten a chance to meet with it before the worms came. Tears blurred his vision. They were probably dead. Ixane and the children had been on board that one.

"We have to find them..." Lard Nar decided, sitting up straighter in his chair. Both of his hands were trembling. He couldn't hide it.

He had to find the rest of his crew… or whatever was left of them…

"I really want to agree with you boss..." Shloonktapooxis began in a quiet voice. "But it's too dangerous to do that right now..."

"We need to keep an eye out for the Irken vessels," another crew member spoke up. "Hopefully the Irken wasn't lying about that..."

"But..." Lard Nar wanted to find Ixane, but he didn't want to put whoever remained in danger either. He hesitated, grinding his teeth as he tried to think of a way he could search for their other vessel without putting anyone else in jeopardy.

There was none he realized. There were no escape pods on board anymore. He couldn't leave on his own.

"But if they're alive… they'll need to know where to find us..." he mumbled.

"I'll keep checking the ultarian wave signal," the same crew member offered.

"And I'll keep an eye for them on the monitors," another remarked.

That was all they could do for now. Lard Nar knew this, but it still didn't seem like enough.

"Alright..." he agreed; his voice barely rising above a whisper.

He wasn't the captain anymore. Shloonktapooxis was. He needed to accept whatever decisions he made.


	3. Chapter 3

**Illegal Activity**

Everything hurt. Laes was aware of that the moment he opened his eyes.

There were wires attached to his body. They were attached to his arms too, and there was some sort of freaky helmet covering his head.

He immediately threw it onto the floor. It landed with a loud clang and bounced once more before knocking into the wall.

Hurriedly he sat up and tore all of the wires off of him.

At least he was wearing pants this time... that was the only not creepy thing about this whole situation...

The alarm started and the sudden noise caused him to fall off of the table he'd been lying on. He hit the floor hard enough to knocked the air out of his lungs.

This was not starting off as a very good day...

When he was able to breathe again he let out a pained groan and rolled onto his side. His muscles ached and his head was pounding. His legs felt numb until he tried to use them, then they just hurt.

The room was darker than he'd been expecting. All of the lights had been turned off, though there was a faded blue light coming from the screen of the machine he'd been attached to. There were a few smaller green lights below that, and then he saw it: the thing that held Bann's data somehow.

With all of the struggling power of a beached Gorgit, he managed to move himself across the floor.

Reaching the device proved more difficult. He actually had to stretch which hurt everywhere and made it hard for him to breath again for some reason, and he was really beginning to wonder why he decided waking up was a good idea.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been lying down for, but his body seemed to think it had been a few years at least.

Maybe the guards had beaten him. He sure felt like he'd gotten beaten.

His fingers brushed the device. It was oddly warm for something that looked like it was made out of random metal materials. He reached further and managed to snag it before collapsing onto his back.

The guards were going to be here any second. He knew that, but he didn't know where to keep the device… the first thought he had was to hide it in his pants but they'd likely search there first.

The door flew open and a pool of light flooded into the room. Quickly Laes shoved the piece of the hologram device into his mouth before his brain could think of the many excuses not to do that.

It tasted horrible, but he was too scared to dwell on it.

Then he closed his eyes and waited.

"Shlit..." that was Grump's voice. Even after being away Laes could instantly recognize it."I thought you said you gave him enough drugs to knock him out for a week,"

"I-I did..." a new voice stammered.

They sounded scared. Was it another Vortian Laes wondered? He wouldn't dare open his eyes to look.

Thwack! "Ah!"

It sounded like the scared person had been hit.

Laes struggled not to wince. He could hear the guard's boots clacking against the floor.

Clack clack clack.

Grumps was probably standing over him.

He felt the guard snag him by the shoulder. He was trembling badly.

Grumps must know he wasn't really sleeping right now. His irregular breathing and constant shivering gave him away. He was also pretty sure he just flinched too.

"You, get to your feet," Grumps demanded, and he set Laes down only to have him fall over.

As much as Laes would have liked to obey, his legs wouldn't let him. It was probably the drugs, or cowardice, or both, but he couldn't make himself stand.

Grump's boot connected with his abdomen, and he made a small whimpering noise.

"Get up!" the guard demanded.

Laes just lay there waiting for the beating he was going to get for not cooperating. Maybe if there was enough pain he'd go unconscious again.

"He can't!" the other person blurted. "The drugs haven't..."

"Turn the alarm off," Pain insisted.

That voice made Laes' skin crawl. He curled into a tighter ball and squeezed his eyes shut.

There was a small yelp. Yes. That was definitely a Vortian.

"Turn it off," Grumps echoed, sounding annoyed.

A few seconds later the loud piercing alarm was shut off.

An uneasy silence fell over the room. Then Pain spoke again, "I'll take number 777 to his cell..."

There was a shorter pause. Then Grumps mumbled something under his breath.

Pain continued, "can you take the other one back?"

"Yeah," Grumps responded, and he let out a sharp sigh.

Laes felt himself being lifted on the ground. He was carried under the guard's arm like a sack of dirt.

"Usually you're more chatty," Pain commented.

It was difficult to swallow with the device in his mouth. Laes cracked open an eye and watched the shiny floor beneath him. It was never dirty, and he still hadn't figured out how.

"I guess we all have our limits, don't we?" Pain said, and he let out a sigh.

Laes could hear the crackling electric sound of the force fields.

Pain didn't say anything else. The guard simply brought him back to his old cell and placed him on his cot.

Laes listened as the guard's boot steps faded away before opening both eyes and attempting to sit up. It took another try before he did, then he fell forward off the cot and landed face-down on the floor.

He spat out the device and held it tight in his hand as he began crawling slowly towards his computer.

It felt like hours had gone by before he reached it.

He opened one of the ports and jammed the device inside. It really didn't fit properly, but the screen flickered, so he assumed something was happening.

" _Can_ … _hear… Laes…?"_ Bann's crackling voice came through the speakers.

"Y-yeah..." Laes responded, managing a small smile.

He looked over at the other cot that was still in his cell. Lard Nar was gone, but he wasn't alone.

" _You..."_ Bann's voice faded out. It was hard to hear him.

"I can't hear you anymore..." Laes told him, and he rested his head against the speaker.

" _You… ok…?"_

Tears filled his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. Sniffling, he reached to hug his computer. It didn't matter that this movement hurt his shoulders and that his arms didn't fully want to cooperate. He was just glad he wasn't alone right now.

"I'm ok..." he replied before he started to sob.

" _...Don't sound ok..."_ Bann remarked with an edge of concern in his voice.

"Y-you're the one stuck in a computer," Laes reminded him. "Y-you don't even have your head anymore… you're… you're dead Bann… why couldn't I help you…? I… I didn't want you to die..."

" _I'm… still here..."_ Bann said very slowly and deliberately. _"I will… get you out..."_

Laes just kept clinging to his computer. He didn't know if he wanted to get out again… not after what happened the last time he did that.

* * *

Darden wasn't sure what was driving him anymore. He knew he should be dead. That would be the most loyal thing he could do for the Empire right now: die. Yet for some reason Laes' words were sticking with him.

That didn't mean he couldn't take risks that could potentially kill him, and that was exactly what he was doing. He wanted to see if the worms had built a nest in this quadrant. If they had, he'd alert the part of the Armada that should be flying nearby in a short while.

He hadn't expected to fly into pieces of debris and to find that they made a trail that led to a desolate planet that might have once been a moon…

There were chunks of rocks and dirt and something that could have been organic life maybe floating around. It looked like a planet had been pulled a part here… but then there was a different rocky planet nearby, and it seemed to be drifting aimlessly.

Then he saw something more noteworthy: a familiar looking downed vessel on the surface of that moon or whatever it was. He landed his ship and put on his breathing helmet that every soldier had in their PAKs.

The ship must have remained invisible just long enough after the initial attack to avoid receiving anymore damage. Lucky for its crew… the bulk of their ship was still intact.

It was possible they were running out of air though, and there was no way their vessel would be able to fly in the state it was in.

That's how he ended up in this claustrophobic situation.

The cloaked alien girl was sitting beside him with a small yellow creature in her arms. Ixane was her name. He was pretty sure of this although he usually didn't remember the names of aliens.

There were also four Bludonians, two yellow smiling things, the other small yellow thing with a screw in its head, two floating robots, a green creature that seemed to occasionally barf up purple sludge, a creature with four legs and a strange growth on its chin, a dark cloaked alien with a large forehead, and an alien that had buggy eyes and a segmented body.

At least the guy he hated wasn't here.

His shoulders were tense and he had a harsh grip on the controls. He wasn't used to being around so many strange aliens, and it was worse being in such close proximity to them.

"It's very kind of you to rescue us," one of the Bludonians who was standing much too close to the back of his seat told him.

"I didn't have anything better to do," Darden grumbled. His hands were starting to hurt from gripping the controls so tightly.

Besides… Lard Nar had rescued him twice… once from a tree (much to his embarrassment) and again when he chose to let him on board the Resisty's ship instead of leaving him on the doomed jungle planet.

He'd never felt respect for a non-Irken before, and he never imagined the one to earn any respect from him would be a Vortian of all people. Is that why he was saving these rebels? Did he actually feel indebted to their former leader?

"It's too bad we're down another ship though," the floating robot thing commented. At least he figured that was who was talking judging by their monotone voice.

"I'm not sure all of us will be able to fit inside just one..." Ixane quietly admitted.

"You could take this one..." Darden said, and he could feel the eyes of all of the Resisty members on him.

"You would give us your Spittle Runner?" the large big-headed alien questioned in disbelief.

"And betray the Empire?" Darden responded, suddenly feeling rather defensive. His antennae flattened, and he scowled down at his monitor. "You people outnumber me. You can just take it."

"You saved us Darden..." Ixane spoke, and he cringed when he felt her hand on his arm. "...we're not ungrateful."

"Yes, but you do need another ship," the former soldier remarked, glaring at her and he brushed her hand off of him."It's not unreasonable for you to take it by force since you need it and I am unable to simply hand it over to you."

"Excuse my curious nature," one of the Bludonians spoke up. "But why do you want to give us this ship even though you seem to consider it a betrayal towards your people?"

Darden bit his lip. He wasn't too sure what he was thinking or if he was even supposed to think this way. Maybe being outside of the Empire was somehow altering his programming. Maybe he was becoming defective…

He always thought a defective Irken had to be manufactured incorrectly from the start… he never considered the possibility that an Irken could somehow have their data altered afterwords unless direct tampering was involved.

"I don't really have a people right now..." Darden admitted. "Although I would never want to go against the Empire or my Tallest… I'm not able to properly support them right now."

The Bludonian came a bit closer so he was almost standing by the one who was too close. "Do you want to go back?"

"Yes," Darden answered instantly in his usual honest manner. "But I can't."

"I see… then where are you planning to go?"

"I'm not sure." He'd never had to figure everything out on his own before. Usually he was told what to do and he obeyed. Thinking for himself was not something he was particularly fond of, but he didn't have a choice.

"You are welcome to join the survivors of my people on the planet we are currently residing on," the Bludonian offered, because that was what his people did. They were givers.

Darden wasn't sure he understood the sentiment. Irkens always took what they wanted. They never thought about the feelings of others... doing so would be considered defective. Everything had to be for the good of the Empire and nothing else.

Why would the Bludonian make such an offer to an enemy? It didn't make any logical sense.

"I decline," Darden replied.

He switched the receiver to the Irken broadcast network again. The part of the Armada in the area wasn't too far off. If the other Resisty members decided to follow his advice, they should be nearby.

He glanced at Ixane. The purple cloaked alien was rocking the small creature in her arms. Shouldn't they have found a safer place for the offspring? Maybe that was where they were heading now.

When the Ring Cutters and Spittle Runners appeared on the edge of his monitor, he slowed his vessel down. He proceeded to follow them for a little while, hoping that one of the blind transmissions he sent would be answered.

"Do you people have a meeting place?" Darden asked after the fifth attempt at communicating with the hidden Resisty ship had failed.

An uneasy silence fell over the crew. Of course they wouldn't tell him if they did. He wasn't a member of their group and he never would be.

"Not anymore," Ixane murmured, and she hugged the small thing in her arms closer.

"Perhaps we could try Meekrob?" one of the Bludonians suggested.

"They've closed off their planet to all outsiders," someone else spoke.

"Normally we would meet up on Foodcourtia," a different voice said. They paused for a moment then let out a sigh. "It's impossible to do that right now though..."

Ixane sat up a bit straighter. "Aren't we getting a little close to the Armada?" She asked.

Darden blinked. The fragment of the Armada he'd been following had suddenly stopped.

There were worms approaching from the left side.

He pulled back on one of the control sticks to slow down the Spittle Runner. The communication light started flashing, alerting everyone that they were currently being hailed.

The Armada was heading towards them… and so were the massive writhing group of giant hungry worms…

Darden's eyes widened when he realized what kind of trouble they were in. He hurriedly made a few adjustments, transferring most of the core energy to the engines.

"Keep quiet," he insisted before pressing the receive button.

An Irken appeared on his monitor. Darden's antennae flicked back and he lowered his gaze respectfully.

"You are currently in a restricted area," the soldier on the screen informed him. "All non-military Irken personnel are being called back to Irk."

"I apologize sir..." Darden responded. The screen displaying the area showed the piece of the Armada was approaching at a fast speed.

"Never mind that," the soldier spoke with a scowl. "Right now you need to get behind our forces. Do not delay. The worms are nearly on top of us."

The transmission cut off, and Darden gripped the controls with both hands.

"Hang onto something," he remarked, though he didn't give them much time before he pulled the Spittle Runner forward. He'd gotten permission to approach the Armada, and he was going to waste this opportunity.

At this speed it was more difficult to control the ship, but he managed to weave through the first small section of Irken forces without scraping or crashing against anything. Then he drove the ship below them to avoid any possible collisions with the rest of the fleet.

The communications button was beeping and flashing again. Darden brought the Spittle Runner to a stop, and he watched on the monitors as the fragment of the Armada met head on with the swarm.

He stared as he reached to answer the call. He couldn't look away. There were far more worms than there were Irken vessels. Those soldiers weren't going to survive.

He wanted to be with them. Dying along side his fellow Irkens would be better than wandering alone outside of the Empire.

"Um, hey Darden," a familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the screen that was showing who'd made the call. It was the cone alien from the Resisty. Shloonktapooxis.

Darden glanced over his shoulder at the members of the Resisty he'd rescued. "It's fine," he informed them when he realized that the ones who weren't lying on the ground, hurt and in pain from their flight, were still being very quiet. "It's your boss on the line."

He was never going to return to the Empire… he knew this.

Zim was the only one who had ever returned from being exiled and this was only because the small Irken was too defective to care about being banished.

Besides, he'd already betrayed his Tallest by rescuing the enemy… why had he bothered? There was no point in saving these creatures.

Everyone who was able to crowded around his chair to see Shloonktapooxis on the screen. Darden's antennae flattened in annoyance, but since he was the one at the controls he didn't leave his spot.

The worms wouldn't be held back for long. They needed to keep moving.

"Alright, enough talk," Darden interrupted them, and he shoved a few aliens away from his space. "We aren't safe here," he insisted, gripping the main control stick. "It seems the Empire has lost its current borders, so we need to head further into Irken controlled space."

If only he had a map of the Empire's current boarders… remaining on the outskirts right now did not seem like the greatest idea, but they couldn't head too far inwards either without possibly being detained.

"We do have a place… I mean, somewhere to go," Shloonktapooxis began, although he looked and sounded unsure. "Um… it's near… well… you can follow us."

The communication's screen flicked off, and Darden's eyes returned to the main monitor. Almost all of the Irken vessels had been smashed apart. Only a handful were left desperately fighting the giant mass of worms.

Something in his chest constricted when he turned his ship to follow the Resisty's. There would be no honourable death for him along side his people. He would never be anything but a shameful wanderer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alive or Dead**

He couldn't keep clinging to the computer forever.

Bann's voice had stopped coming through the speakers hours ago already.

Laes sat up on the floor and wiped more tears away.

If the guards had come by at all he hadn't noticed…

His hand reached and grasped the metal desk. Then very slowly he pulled himself to his feet.

His legs were trembling; he didn't feel steady enough to let go of the desk. He was standing at least which was probably a good sign that the drugs were wearing off.

Laes stared at his former cellmate's cot. The Irkens hadn't bothered to remove it.

Lard Nar was free and where he belonged. Thinking about this gave him some comfort.

His father seemed to be alive but in some kind of comatose state… so he'd probably been talking to his real father inside the virtual reality program.

His father also said his mother was alive.

The Irkens hadn't killed his parents yet… but his father could be dying.

He couldn't let himself dwell on it. He lightly smacked the side of his face, hoping to snap himself out of crying again.

"Bann?" he called, but just like the past few hours the former Irken was silent.

Bann's data had started transferring to the hologram device long before he was killed by Darden. It was impressive how an Irken's PAK could do this, but then the original PAK technology had come from people far more advanced than Vortians were right now.

Did the Tallest know about this? How had the Irkens been able to work with and alter such impressive technology?

His eyes widened a little in realization.

The Control Brains.

Of course… no wonder the Irkens considered those computers so important. Apparently the Control Brains were the collective data of all the Irkens from the past. Well… some of them anyway.

Laes assumed if an Irken's pak was destroyed or they were found guilty on Judgementia they wouldn't be included.

But what if it wasn't just Irken data in the Control Brains? What if the nameless race was also apart of the collective?

Laes wobbled over to his cot and collapsed face-down on the rock hard mattress. Ouch. He really should remember not to do that.

Now he'd lost his train of thought. He squeezed his eyes closed and curled up on his side.

After a while he heard the familiar boot steps of the guards and the clatter of the metal tray. He could feel the emptiness weighing like a pit in his stomach, but he couldn't make himself get up.

Still, he kept hoping to hear Bann's voice. A part of him just wanted to know he really had an ally here… even if his ally was just a computer program… or something.

Laes wasn't too sure what to think about Bann's explanation.

" _Laes..."_ Bann's crackling voice came through the speakers on the computer. Laes eyes snapped open as he fell out of his cot and scrambled over to the monitor so he could hear him better.

" _Laes."_ Bann's voice sounded a little clearer.

"I'm here Bann," Laes spoke.

He wanted to cry again. Why was he being so emotional all of a sudden?

" _I found Veena."_

"You did?" Laes questioned, sitting up and wiping away his tears. He sucked in a breath as he tried to calm himself.

Hold on… how did Bann know about Veena? Was he somehow able to overhear everything? How much did he know?

"W-wait… how do you know about…?" he started to ask, but then he thought he might not like the answer so he stopped.

It was too late though since Bann decided to answer anyway.

" _I'm able to enter your dreams, so..."_

Laes flushed. "I-I don't dream about her!" he stammered awkwardly.

" _Ok... sure..."_ Bann didn't sound very convinced, but he continued. _"Do you want me to pass on a message to her?"_

Laes chewed his bottom lip, and he dangled his legs over the side of the bed.

What could he possibly say to her right now? He wasn't sure. They were both imprisoned, and the chances of them escaping were pretty much zero. He also didn't know her very well.

" _It's fine. You don't have to say anything."_

"Are you in their network right now?" Laes decided to change the subject.

" _Yes… and I've figured out a lot of their system… I can take down the barriers and probably cause a helk of a power outage."_

Laes let out a sigh. "Why are you doing this Bann…? I thought… I mean you're still Irken right? You should want to help your people."

There was a long pause. Then Bann sighed. Even though his voice was coming from the speaker, it was very clear as though he was standing in the room.

" _They aren't my people, and I am no longer Irken."_

"Well… I mean," Laes fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "Technically you're just data right now, but with the kind of technology Irk and Vort have we could figure something out… I mean, if we inputted your data into a robot you could at least move freely… or if that doesn't work maybe another PAK could..."

" _Laes, I'm dead. You need to accept this… even if I was able to return to an Irken body, I would not be completely myself..."_ he paused for a moment before adding. _"Who I was before died with my body. What I am right now is the remaining data of whatever my PAK was able to salvage before it was destroyed… so please don't worry about me."_

"You told me yourself that Irkens are mostly the data in your PAKs," Laes started to argue.

Why was he arguing with him? He covered his face and shook his head.

"If your memories and personality and everything that makes you you is still around, then how can you be gone?"

Bann let out a small sigh. _"I can't feel anything anymore Laes."_

"Were you able to feel anything before?" Laes tried to joke although I came out more awkward than he was expecting.

" _Laes,"_ Bann interrupted a bit more forcefully. _"You know programs, codes, and all of that stuff. What I am right now is very similar to an artificial intelligence program that runs inside the system of some of the more advanced ships your people have come up with… How I respond has nothing to do with feelings. It's all just data from my PAK when I was alive."_

Laes brought his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs.

" _For example: if your memories and your personality were used as one of those artificial pilot things… it may very well believe its self to be you, and in every way besides it's container it would be… but this artificial intelligence is now it's own separate identity . It is separate and distinct from its former host… does this make sense?_

 _I am not the same as the Bann who died. I'm not the original. I'm just a copy."_

"Yeah… I don't remember you being this philosophical…" Laes admitted quietly.

" _I had some time to go over past information. It's not like I can do a whole lot else when I'm not connected to a network."_

"Oh..." For some reason Laes didn't want this topic of conversation to drop. "But Bann... even if you're different from the original Bann, that doesn't mean you're not Bann."

It sounded like Bann cleared his throat despite the impossibility of him actually being able to do so.

" _Have you figured out what you want to do?"_

He was changing the subject... maybe it was time to move on from this.

"Yeah..." Laes replied, shutting his eyes. "I'm done running... I just want to stay here... on Vort."

" _Are you sure...?"_ Bann questioned, sounding disappointed. _"I can get you out of here Laes."_

"And just what's out there Bann?" Laes asked him. "The worms are killing everything... I've seen what they do... and if the Irkens are really going to fight them seriously then I'm better off here building weapons... I know how to do that. I can design, construct, modify... but I can't fight. All I'd be doing out there is running away... running from one "safe place" to the next..."

He could feel tears gathering in his eyes, and his vision blurred. He'd been crying way too much lately, but he couldn't make himself stop.

"Lard Nar knew that... that's why when I asked to leave the Resisty he didn't say anything... I'm not a fighter. Sometimes I wish I was... but I'm not."

"You have been fighting Laes..." Bann corrected.

Oh Vort... it sounded like the Irken was standing in the room with him. The dead soldier's voice was so clear, but if he looked around he knew all he'd see was an empty room surrounded by an electrical force-field.

"You've been fighting for your life since you first left Vort... you were willing to do whatever it took to live... there is courage in that."

Laes managed a small chuckle. "No," he shook his head. "I'm a coward. I ran from Darden when you were hurt... that's how you got killed."

"That's not being a coward Laes," Bann breathed a sigh. "That's being smart... unless you honestly thought you could fight Darden one on one, fighting him would have gotten you killed."

Bann paused for a moment before adding, "like it got me killed... besides I told you to run. You did the right thing."

"It still almost got me killed," Laes corrected, shifting so he was lying down on his side.

He curled into a ball and closed his eyes. He'd probably just end up sleeping until the guards hauled him away somewhere else...

"If the Tallest didn't stop him I'd be dead right now... if it weren't for you and Lard Nar I'd be dead too because I really don't have any survival skills... I've been relying on everyone else to keep me alive."

" _Which is reasonable considering you never left Vort before,"_ Bann concluded. There was more static in the Irken's... in the program's voice. " _If you want to stay here I won't stop you, because I can't, but I can try to free your father from the mind-trap they have him in. If the device is connected to any kind of life support however..."_

"It's fine Bann..." Laes responded. His body felt heavy and his mind beginning to drift off. "I... I just need some time to get over remembering my niece's death... that's all... and dad will probably wake up eventually... he's not brain dead I think... so there's still some hope he will."

" _Well... ok... I will... be..."_ Bann's voice was lost in the static.

Laes lay on the uncomfortable mattress for quite a while before he was able to make himself move. He grabbed his pillow and blanket and placed them under his cot. He crawled underneath it and rested his head on the cool pillow.

The floor really was more comfortable.

A few minutes later, he was asleep.

* * *

A general feeling of relief left everyone feeling more talkative. The atmosphere was definitely lighter now that they were able to secure a second ship and all of its passengers. Their base was also currently being displayed on the monitors.

Lard Nar thought Ixane and the children had perished... but here they were safe and relatively unhurt.

Darden was with them.

The Irken had apparently rescued the second ship's crew who'd been stranded after the crash, and it was his vessel they decided to use.

Darden insisted he wasn't giving it to them and that they were taking it against his will... however he hadn't tried to stop them, and he hadn't complained about it since.

With the Spittle Runner they could probably fly deeper into Irken controlled space. Then they wouldn't need to worry so much about the worms...

He wondered if Shloonktapooxis was considering this... their current base was hidden on a desolate moon of a large gas planet near a sector that had fallen under Irken control four months ago.

He waited for the ship's movement to stop and the engines to be cut before following some of the crew out into the hallway. They were about to meet up with the rest of their members.

Fourteen of them had stayed behind to maintain this place. One of them was Spleenk's father... the poor guy had already lost a son.

Lard Nar chewed his bottom lip and clasped his arm.

He was going to have to explain that Kleep was gone now too, lost to the jungle planet.

The Resisty wasn't a very big movement, but they had allies... or at least people who were willing to help them out occasionally.

Meekrob, Plookesia, Bludon, and the underground of Foodcourtia had been helping them secure weapons, food, and other necessary supplies. With Foodcourtia under heavy Irken surveillance, Meekrob under lock-down, Plookesia destroyed, and Bludon completely taken over and possibly gone, they no longer had access to their usual resources.

There were still people he knew on other planets who knew of the Resisty but weren't a part of it. They wouldn't be much help though.

It wasn't his problem. He kept trying to tell himself this.

Shloonktapooxis was the one in charge now, but the current captain kept glancing at him with a hopeful look on his face... some of the other members were starting to look at him that way too.

He couldn't help them. He couldn't do it... he would just make things worse.

Suddenly he was jolted out of his thoughts when he walked into something... He felt a hand clasp his shoulder, and he looked up at the Irken soldier scowling down at him.

"If all Vortians are this absent minded; it's amazing your species is still around at all," Darden grumbled.

Darden release him and he stumbled backwards, his eyes wide and his muscles tense.

The Irken didn't seem interested in attacking him however.

"If you're going to think that intensely, you should do it while you're inactive," Darden remarked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Why are you here...?" Lard Nar asked, rooting himself in place for now.

Some of his crew had stopped to watch the exchange. A few had their hands on their weapons.

"I know you can overpower us... so why don't you steal back your ship? You could leave right now and tell your superiors where we are..."

One of the Irken's antennae flicked forward, and his expression became more neutral.

"I was not ordered to report your location, so why would I?"

"Because you hate us?" Lard Nar responded, and he winced when Darden began scowling again.

The Irken looked him up and down, and something like a stone settled in the pit of his stomach. He knew what the soldier was seeing: something small and weak. Did the Irken think they were too pathetic to attack?

"I only hate one of you," Darden corrected him. "I feel nothing but indifference towards the rest."

That wasn't a reassuring statement. Lard Nar rubbed his temples. As far as he was concerned Irkens were malicious and cruel beings... he didn't exactly hate them, but he had no trust or respect for them either.

Having Darden here would only put the Resisty at risk... yet if they tried to detain him without Laes present, they could be killed.

Darden breathed a sigh as he lowered his arms. He looked completely unguarded, but at any moment he could use his PAK and clear out the whole ship.

"I understand the reason for your hostility, but I have not come here to cause trouble for you. If detaining me would make things easier then feel free to do so."

Would the Irken really allow himself to be captured?

When Laes was with them Darden followed him around obediently enough. Had the Tallest really extended their protection to Laes? Why would they do that...? Was it possible that his former co-worker was important somehow...?

If Laes was valuable to the Empire, then the guards wouldn't have cut off his hand. Lard Nar shuddered. The thought of it sent a shiver through him. As painful as it was getting beaten and having his fingers cut off and his eye removed, the worst part was watching Laes get dragged into this mess.

He shouldn't have blurted out his former co-worker's name... it didn't matter what they did to him, he should have kept quiet.

"Is he giving you trouble?" one of the taller cloaked members questioned. He was holding his gun although he hadn't pointed it yet.

Darden regarded the alien for a moment. He didn't appear to be concerned at all. Of course there was no reason for the Irken to be worried. No one here could stop Darden if the he decided to fight them.

"It's ok everyone," Shloonktapooxis cut-in as he drifted over to the group that had stopped.

Most of the crew had already left the landing site and had gone further into the structure built into the planet's solid rock surface.

"Let's take a few breaths and try to relax," their current captain spoke, managing a half-hearted smile. "Even though he's Irken, Darden rescued us all remember? I really don't think he'd save our lives if he was planning to kill us all horribly later."

"It would be a waste of energy and effort to do that," the Irken agreed.

Darden did rescue them... Lard Nar's gaze dropped to the ground and he turned to join the group who was beginning to walk away.

An Irken rescued them... why?

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Shloonktapoxis speaking with Darden.

Their current captain seemed willing to give the Irken a chance... but not everyone else would feel the same way. The Empire had slaughtered and enslaved too many people.

He didn't want to be near the soldier at all if he could help it. Every time he looked into those crimson red eyes he recalled too many painful memories.

He squeezed both his hands into fists. If they could kill the Irken without taking too much of a risk... but then what would Laes say...? He knew his former co-worker cared about this Irken for some reason.

The long dimly lit hallway they were walking through opened up into a large room filled with old monitors, bundles of wires, and many different sized crates. There was a single large bright light hanging high above in the center of the room.

In one of the corners were a few metal-framed bunk beds with flat mattresses and only a single blanket each. There wasn't enough for everyone to have there own.

The Spittle Runner wouldn't have any beds, and there were only a handful of sleeping places on board their only surviving ship. This meant everyone was going to have to sleep in rotations...

He wondered if Shloonktapooxis was aware of this yet.

Then he saw Spleenk's father Spleep busy soddering some wires together.

He sucked in a breath and held it for a moment as his mind hurried over what he would say. After hesitating for a while, he finally made his way over to him.

Spleep turned when he heard him approach, and the older member offered him a smile.

"I heard you were back... I'm glad to see you're still alive."

"Yes..." Lard Nar replied, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "We... we should talk..."

Spleep's smile vanished. Instead his expression just looked tired. "The last time you said that my son had died..." he responded, and one of his hands rested on his cheek.

"It's Kleep..." Lard Nar continued. There was a heaviness in his chest, and as he spoke his mouth could barely for the words he wanted to say. "I'm sorry..."

"I-I see..." Spleep responded. Tears gathered in his eyes. "How...?"

Lard Nar wished he could answer that question... but he didn't know what happened to Kleep. No one did. He slowly shook his head as he lowered his gaze to the floor.

"I'm sorry..." he repeated in a quiet voice.

Spleep collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his hands. His shoulders shook as he started sobbing.

Another member of the resistance was gone... lost in their fight for freedom.

This was the path the Resisty chose to take the moment they decided to resist the Empire.

He squeezed his hands into fists and bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood.

Every life was important; every death, painful.

Irkens would never understand.


	5. Chapter 5

**When the Worms Attack**

The sirens were going off.

Laes' eyes blinked open. Everything looked blurry. He blinked again and slowly propped himself up which was a good thing since he was still under his cot and he would have banged his head on the metal-frame if he sat up too quickly.

Everything was red... no it was flashing red... what was going on?

A burst of static came from the speakers. It was loud enough for him to hear it over the sirens. He looked at his computer which had never looked so far away before.

He didn't want to risk leaving the safety of his cot.

At least under here he could pretend he felt safe a little bit.

...But the piece of the hologram device was still sticking out of the machine.

How had the guards not noticed that and questioned him by now...? There's no way they would ever shlerk their duties like that... then... the only thing that could have caused them to overlook that was...

They were dealing with a more urgent problem.

The sirens were a good indication of this.

After hesitating for a little while more, he sucked in a breath and forced himself to move.

He hurried over to the computer and reached for the device.

" _Laes..."_

Bann's voice broke through the static, surprising him enough to recoil away and nearly fall backwards.

" _It's bad... worms... attacking..."_

"The guards will take care of it..." Laes spoke, sounding hopeful although he was beginning to have his doubts. "They have shields and stuff they can put up at least..."

" _Armada... coming..."_

The electrical force field suddenly parted, and one of the guards strode in.

Laes didn't recognize him right away since everything was flashing red.

Then he realized it was Masher. He hadn't seen that guard in a long time... like five months?

The guard had probably been temporarily reassigned somewhere.

This wasn't the time to ask him about it.

"On your feet!" the guard shouted over the wailing siren.

Laes immediately jumped to his feet.

There was an urgency in the guard's voice. What were they planning to do?

He hoped him and his fellow Vortians weren't going to be used as cannon fodder, but his brain wouldn't let go of the idea now that he thought about it.

He was forced to leave the hologram piece behind when he was hustled out of his cell. The guard would have seen him grab it if he tried, and worms or no worms he was sure that would've resulted in a beating.

Besides, Bann could probably do more through the Irken's prison network than he could trapped inside a tiny device.

The hallway was filled with Vortian prisoners. There were four Irken guards in total; all of them brandishing zappy sticks.

Laes didn't recognize two of them... were they new?

His mind started to wander as they were hurried down the hall. The electric barrier that made up most cells dissipated around them. Laes wanted to ask what was going on, but none of the Irkens seemed to be in a question answering mood at the moment... they were never in the mood to answer questions.

Someone grabbed his hand, and he glanced at who was beside him. It was Veena. She was holding his hand.

Cripes! He nearly jerked his hand out of her grasp, but there were too many other Vortians surrounding him and he didn't want to accidentally smack someone in the face.

At least she appeared to be ok. She had a few bruises on her face, but it looked like she hadn't been maimed at all.

"What's going on?" she asked over the sirens and the guards yelling at them to move faster.

"I dunno," Laes quickly answered.

He was sure he was blushing despite the current situation.

"This isn't normal, is it?"

Veena hadn't been in the Irken prison system for very long had she...? He couldn't remember.

"This um... isn't normal... yes," he replied.

He was starting to mumble.

She probably didn't hear him.

They were ushered down a large square opening in the floor. There were several sets of stairs. At some point all of the guards that had been pushing them along fell back. The hatch closed and they were left in darkness.

The sound of the siren could barely be heard.

Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, breathing heavily.

Veena's grip on his hand tightened.

Hopefully this wasn't going to be some kind of mass slaughter... why did his brain have to think that? Maybe they were going to be suffocated to death... oh Ganre... was it getting harder to breath in here or was it just him?

Then the tremors started. It felt like an earthquake; the ground was shaking.

People gasped and cried in surprise. Laes wished there was enough room so he could curl up on the floor in a fetal position, but he also didn't want to be suffocated and accidentally crushed to death if people started panicking or falling over.

Instead he drew closer to Veena. At least she was familiar. Sort of. They hadn't really talked much, and now that he thought about it he really didn't know that much about her.

"So um... your family?" Laes questioned.

Talking would probably make being trapped in a dark shaking room less frightening, or at least that was the theory.

"I didn't talk to them even before the invasion," Veena commented. She sounded annoyed. "Can we drop the subject?"

"Yeah, sorry..." he apologized.

She was still holding his hand. It didn't feel like she was going to let go any time soon. And now his face was getting hot again. At least no one would notice since it was pitch black in here.

The other Vortians were starting to whisper among themselves. At least one guy was hyperventilating. Everyone was scared. No one was quite sure what was going on... was this really a worm attack? Did anyone else besides him even know about the worms?

* * *

"Vort is under attack..." Darden stated after overhearing the broadcast.

He was composed enough; there was nothing in his body language suggesting he was feeling anything other than calm right now.

This was how he wanted it.

"Do you know the current location of the Armada?" he asked.

"Our range isn't very good," Shloonktapooxis admitted. "So uh... we have no idea."

Of course they didn't know.

Darden rubbed his temples and let out a sigh. He lowered his hand and looked at the floating cone creature. This was the Resisty's current captain... he was starting to wonder why his Tallest had taken this group seriously.

It seemed the Tallest had split the armada into three groups, and one of those groups may have been split into two. It was hard to tell since he hadn't been able to access any information about their formations since crash landing on that jungle planet.

Hopefully one of the main fleets would be doubling back towards Vort. If not, then it would only be a matter of time before Vort was taken offline.

The planet's shields were not as strong as Irk's which had used a combination of Vortian, Irken, and Jacker technology to strengthen their barriers.

Vort could probably hold out against a worm attack for a few days. Hopefully the worms would grow tired and leave before the shield broke.

"How are you feeling about it?" the captain questioned, hovering a bit closer.

This creature had been giving him the benefit of the doubt since he arrived. He wasn't sure if it was just naive or if it had an alternative motive, but either way he'd found himself approaching this alien whenever he had a question to ask.

Darden made a low humming sound as his antennae flattened. "Annoyed," he responded dismissively.

"Why are you annoyed?"

Darden's eyes narrowed at the captain. "Because, I'm stuck here, and Laes is likely getting himself killed as we speak..." he smirked and chuckled quietly to himself. "I wish I knew why I was given such a ridiculous assignment..."

"You said the Tallest asked you to protect him right?" Shloonktapooxis questioned, tilting a bit. Perhaps the alien thing was trying to show its curiosity through movement, but it was difficult to tell.

"That's correct..." Darden responded, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall. "I don't know the reason for this... as far as I can tell there is nothing exceptional about Laes."

In fact, Laes had proven himself to be even more cowardly and useless than even he was expecting. He figured the Vortian would have at least had some kind of knowledge the Tallest needed, but no.

Irkens didn't even protect each other most of the time, so it was strange they would order him to protect a non-Irken who was really nothing more than a slave.

Why would his Tallest force him to do this? Was being banished from the Empire not punishment enough?

"It does seem pretty weird," Shloonktapooxis commented, and the captain reeled back when Darden shoved himself away from the wall.

"They have their reasons. I won't question it," Darden decided.

He looked around the large room filled with different kinds of mix-matched technology. They had a working broadcast signal... they even had a very limited but functional force-field system.

"Did your resistance build this?"

"Oh yeah," Shloonktapooxis answered with no hesitation. "But the boss was the one who planned and organized everything."

He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful.

"Actually, the boss built most of the technology himself... we mostly just carved out the room. Well um... those with arms did. But without him the Resisty wouldn't have survived very long... I mean he was the only one who knew how to do things..."

Darden frowned, and his antennae flicked back.

"You call him your boss even though he isn't leading you anymore."

"Yes.. um... well... he started the resistance. He built it, made it what it is... was."

Shloonktapooxis' expression fell.

"Since Drent and I were put in charge not a lot has gone right... I think Drent got a bit desperate when the Meekrob closed off their planet. He wanted the boss back even if he was just building technology because no one else really could do it... without the boss we were just moving from place to place, and we couldn't even do that without the cloaking devices he built."

Darden flicked an antennae forward.

"And you weren't desperate to get him back?"

Shloonktapooxis's smiled, but it seemed sad somehow. "I already said my goodbyes... I don't know if that was the right thing but... the boss told us to let him go... so I did that..."

"Aren't you worried I will give my leaders this information?" Darden questioned.

He was curious why this alien was offering him so much information on Lard Nar.

"Sort of... I mean it's a thought I've had, yeah," Shloonktapooxis admitted, dropping his gaze to the floor. He bit his lip. "But you saved us back there so... well... I'm hoping maybe you're not a bad guy."

"It seems Lard Nar was more important than my leaders realized..." Darden spoke, rubbing his chin as he stood up straighter.

If the Tallest had known, they would have executed Lard Nar right after questioning him.

"Then it's good the Resisty was able to rescue him."

He nearly choked when he realized what he just said.

His programming must have become defective since his banishment... these were never thoughts he would have had before.

"Do you really mean what you said?" Shloonktapooxis asked, and Darden was sure he could here a slight influx in the captain's tone. Was the alien expressing hopefulness?

Darden sighed and folded his arms.

"Yes I mean it," he replied while shifting his stance.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it.. however, I am only loyal to the Empire, so entrusting me with your information is not very smart."

"I guess so," Shloonktapooxis agreed.

"You realize after hearing about the worm situation and my assignment being what it is, I will have to leave."

"Yes, of course," he nodded. "You can have your ship back. We uh, we can just use one for now until we come up with something else."

Darden blinked. He was confused by this creature's apparent kindness. There had to be something the captain wanted in return, or maybe this was some kind of trick. It didn't matter though. He would do everything in his power to complete his assignment... even if the assignment was never truly complete.

So much for the prison being safe. He really would have to stay with Laes until the Vortian died of old age or something.

He rubbed his temples.

This was not how he wanted to spend the remainder of his life.

"Thanks," he said. Then he turned and started walking towards the landing dock.

The members of the Resisty watched him depart. There were a few in the room and a few in the hallway. None of them appeared to be hanging around the landing area. He was able to enter this location and board the spittle runner with no resistance at all.

"I thought you would leave when you heard about Vort," Lard Nar commented evenly.

The Vortian was sitting in the driver's seat with a hard to read expression on his face.

Was Lard Nar going to try and stop him...?

Darden looked the Vortian up and down... the former captain was short and weak, but he was also clever and resourceful. He was impressed that this Vortian was able to build an annoying organization from the ground up almost single-highhandedly.

"Laes is in danger," Darden stated.

He squeezed his hands into fists.

"I don't have a choice."

"You chose not to die didn't you?"

That was true... he could have self-destructed when Laes joined with the Resisty, or gotten himself killed after landing on Foodcourtia, or once Laes returned to Vort.

He didn't need to keep protecting the Vortian.

"The only choice I have is how I'm going to die," Darden responded with a scowl. "Now get out of the driver's seat." He waved the Vortian away, but Lard Nar didn't budge.

"I'll drive," Lard Nar insisted, and he turned to start the ship's engines.

"Your involvement isn't necessary," Darden stated, and he reached to grab the Vortian and haul him away from the controls.

Lard Nar flinched as soon as his hand touched his arm. The Vortian was putting up a brave front. In reality the Resisty's former captain was frightened.

Darden removed his hand and scowled again.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "I'm sure you recognize how much your fellow rebels appreciate you and want you here."

"I do..." Lard Nar spoke in a low voice. "They risked everything to rescue me, and I'm grateful for that... but I can't be their leader. I know that's what they want, what they expect, but I can't do it anymore."

"How is coming with me going to help exactly?" Darden asked, and he placed a hand on his hip as he stood impatiently waiting for the Vortian to commit to his decision. "Will you be ok with your fellow resistance members possibly following us into hostile territory?"

He added more grimly: "By the time we get there the planet will either be destroyed or surrounded by Irken military vessels."

"The crew won't follow us since they only have one ship," Lard Nar reasoned. "And..." he sighed and ran a hand down his face. "You wouldn't understand this... but my home planet... my people... it's all in danger. Even if I can't do anything, how can I ignore it?"

Darden didn't understand exactly what Lard Nar described, but when he recalled watching one of his Tallest getting attacked, and when he saw his fellow soldiers driving towards their doom... fulfilling their purpose without him... he gave in and sat down in the passenger's seat.

"Fine. You can drive then."

* * *

After sitting in silence for the past few hours, Darden decided to switch the channel to the Irken's main broadcasting signal.

Vort had not fallen yet... but it was going to take them roughly three days to travel there. They needed to keep updated on the situation to see if it would even be worth the risk to approach or not.

He was fine with the peace and quiet. There wouldn't be much of that when they arrived at Vort.

Lard Nar didn't seem interested in asking questions which was a nice change of pace.

"When we get there I don't want you to take any unnecessary chances," Darden remarked, and Lard Nar glanced at him briefly before returning his eyes to the monitors.

"I won't," Lard Nar assured him.

Before he could wonder if his question was out of place or not he asked, "why did you assist me on that jungle planet?"

He could feel his face getting hot when he remembered how his stupid slip up ended with him being trapped under a fallen tree. Never had he shown such carelessness before and he hoped he never would again.

"Because I knew you would be useful," Lard Nar replied without hesitation. "Besides, if you ended up being crushed to death Laes would've been upset."

"I killed his... friend or companion or whatever, and nearly killed him, so I doubt he would be as upset as you're thinking." Even so, it was nice to be seen as useful.

There was a long pause. Lard Nar's grip on the controls tightened. "You also saved my life... you rescued me from being eaten by one of those worms... even though your people have done horrible things to mine, and to the Resisty, I couldn't forget you did that."

"The only reason I rescued you was because Laes was threatening to go out and look for you himself," Darden replied honestly.

He wouldn't have bothered to rescue Lard Nar if Laes had kept his mouth shut.

"What was your reason for rescuing us now?" Lard Nar asked in a quiet uncertain voice.

That was a good question.

The Resisty was the enemy of the Empire... but he was no longer a part of the Empire.

Laes wasn't here. The Vortian wouldn't be in danger if these people died.

The only reason he could think of was that these people had given him a ride away from the jungle planet. It would have eventually become a frozen wasteland, and he would have been forced to kill himself which is what he should have done anyway.

Even though he had been given orders to blow himself up, he was starting to realize he really didn't want to follow them. This was probably why he allowed Laes to remove the explosive device from his arm.

Now he had an excuse not to kill himself. If he was going to die, he'd rather go down fighting the worms.

"I rescued you and the others because the Resisty did not leave me stranded on that dying planet," he responded after carefully thinking it over. "We are now 'even'. I won't help them anymore."

Lard Nar glanced at him. His grip tightened on the controls again before he relaxed. "I wanted to leave you there..." he admitted.

"You didn't," Darden concluded.

"We were afraid you would overpower us... we didn't want to risk it..." Lard Nar continued. "That and Laes..."

"Is there any reason why you're so concerned about Laes?" Darden interrupted him.

Despite his short comings, Laes was an adult Vortian who was capable of handling sadness and loss. There was no need to shield him from these things.

Lard Nar answered without any hesitation."Because it's my fault he got involved in this."

"How was it your fault?" Darden questioned, and his antennae fell back.

He couldn't remember a time he'd been more talkative than this. When he'd been in training he didn't think it was necessary to speak unless a superior demanded an answer from him. Then when he became a soldier he only ever waited to receive instructions.

Idle chit-chat wasn't something he enjoyed.

But now was different. He was actually curious about what Lard Nar was thinking.

"Explain it to me."

"I really don't want to talk about this right now," Lard Nar responded dismissively.

"Fine. Then we can sit in silence until we reach Vort," Darden decided.

Either way was fine with him. He liked quiet.

The silence only lasted a few hours.

Darden was resting his elbow on the arm rest and leaning against his hand as he stared out of the space-shield feeling content.

"I... I accidentally told the Empire Laes was involved with the Resisty..." Lard Nar mumbled, and Darden's antennae perked up.

The former captain was continuing the conversation now? Darden glanced at the Vortian who was gripping the controls tightly. Lard Nar looked very tense, and his eyes remained staring ahead.

"He wasn't... of course he wasn't... I just knew I couldn't tell the Irkens about any of my crew... and I didn't know if Laes was alive or dead or that the Irkens would even know his name but... I just blurted it out..." he sucked in a breath. "So it's my fault..."

"I'm sure the guards found out he had no involvement with the rebels fairly quickly," Darden responded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.

"Yes... but they kept us together because they knew I'd spoken to him in the past..." his voice was becoming more quiet. "They were hoping I would give him information about the Resisty... at least that's what I assumed."

"It's strange they didn't just kill you," Darden told him in his usual blunt fashion. He added a little more lightly, "We are not known for being very patient."

"They might have... but then... Laes asked them not to... and they didn't..."

"And how was that your fault?"

Lard Nar bit his lip. He had a conflicted look on his face.

Darden reached out to place a hand on the Vortian's shoulder, but he quickly withdrew it when he realized what he was doing.

He frowned. What was he doing? Offering support? Why would he even think of doing that?

"Maybe this isn't my place to say... but I don't think it's right for you to take on the full blame and responsibility for something Laes chose to do for himself," he said.

"But he didn't know what he was getting into... I did... and I didn't even try to warn him."

Darden nearly rolled his eyes, but he stopped himself. "Could this be because you were tortured to the point of insanity? Because if so I think you have a better excuse than most."

"Excuse or not..."

"You are not giving yourself enough credit," Darden interrupted. "You withheld information from the Empire despite being tortured. That is more than most Irkens can say... there is a reason why all of us have self-destruct buttons. Holding your tongue under physical and mental pain is not an easy task. "

"You don't have a self-destruct button anymore..."

Darden's antennae flattened and he straightened up in his chair. "I didn't need that reminder."

Lard Nar glanced at him. His eyes quickly returned to the space-shield.

"You also can't return to the Empire can you?"

Darden felt a bit put-off by that question. It was obvious he couldn't return to his people, but he figured Lard Nar was only asking to help ease his own worries.

With a sigh Darden responded, "I've been tasked with a vague and nearly impossible mission, and I'm supposed to kill myself after it's "complete," so no, I'm never supposed to return to the Empire."

"I don't understand why they would do that..." Lard Nar admitted. "From what I've seen you're strong, confident, and willing to follow whatever orders they give you... I thought that was what the Empire wanted from its soldiers."

"I killed a fellow soldier," Darden responded dismissively.

"You did it in self-defense."

"That doesn't matter," Darden insisted.

He was kind of glad Lard Nar recognized him as more than just an outcast... but it really wasn't any of the Vortian's business. The Tallest made their decision for the good of the Empire. Nothing else mattered. His life didn't matter.

"I had the ability, and the responsibility, to detain him and bring him in for judgment, but instead I killed him. That is a heavy crime. Soldiers are never supposed to kill each other, not without the permission of either the Control Brains or the Tallest. Since I disobeyed that part of my programming, the Empire considers me defective."

"I don't think you're defective Darden," Lard Nar spoke; his voice becoming more quiet. "I think you killed a defective and saved your people a whole lot of problems. Your leaders should have been grateful."

"Your opinion about my situation doesn't matter," Darden began.

His tone softened slightly as he continued.

"But I do appreciate you saying that..." He paused for a moment, giving some thought to what he was about to say. "I can see why the Resisty respects you and wants to follow your ideals. You escaped from the prison, started a resistance, and you even got the rebel group to grow despite the difficulties you must have faced. If I wasn't Irken... no... even as an Irken I can easily say I respect you."

Lard Nar's his eyes lowered to the controls.

"Should you be saying that about one of your enemies?"

"You are not currently my enemy," Darden corrected him. "And even if I was a part of the Empire, and even if the Empire still wanted you dead, it's not wrong for an Irken soldier to recognize a good adversary."

They sat in silence afterwards. Darden was beginning to wonder if he should have said everything he just did... but it was the truth. He did respect Lard Nar.

It was a few hours later when he noticed the Vortian seemed to be struggling to stay conscious.

Lard Nar's eyes kept closing, and his head would bob which would snap him awake.

Non-Irkens needed sleep. They didn't have a PAK to keep them conscious.

Darden tapped him on the shoulder, silently noting how Lard Nar flinched with this contact.

"You're tired. We're swapping," Darden insisted.

He was prepared to pull Lard Nar out of the driver's seat if he had to, but instead the Vortian was compliant.

Darden sat down in the driver's seat and grabbed the controls.

Then he turned to the passenger's seat and found Lard Nar already slouched over fast asleep.

He didn't think Lard Nar would mind if he made a quick stop along the way. Both of them hadn't thought to bring anything to drink, and while Irkens could go for quite a while without, he knew Vortians didn't have the same kind of endurance.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Well, so much for the prison being safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Fall of Vort**

He hadn't meant to fall asleep.

It was a bad idea to let his guard down with an Irken nearby. He knew this, yet this was the first time since he'd been rescued he'd been able to sleep without having horrible nightmares.

Slowly he sat up in his chair. His vision was blurry, so he rubbed his eyes to clear it.

Then he glanced at Darden.

The Irken had one hand on the controls looking impassive as he steered the ship.

"There have been no sign of the worms so far," Darden reported.

Suddenly the Irken's hand was in his face. He recoiled away, his eyes wide as he studied what was being held out to him.

It was a can.

"Take it," Darden instructed.

He did, instantly, without thinking.

"Where did you...?" Lard Nar started to say.

"I stopped off at one of Irk's shipping planets," Darden responded dismissively. "You've been sleeping for 12 hours."

"12 hours...?" Lard Nar repeated, dragging his free hand down his face.

"That's what I just said, yes."

"And the enforcers let you take this?" Lard Nar questioned, frowning a little.

Darden was a banished Irken... it seemed odd that he could move around so freely on Irken controlled planets.

"I told them I had an assignment on Vort, and they asked no further questions," he added just as bluntly: "Unless a report was released about my banishment, they wouldn't know about it unless they were told directly by a higher authority."

Lard Nar rolled the can over. There were Irken symbols on it: spelling out the name of this particular brand of soda.

Like most Vortians he'd been taught how to read and write in the Irken language as well as his own. He wasn't as good at it as a few of his colleagues had been, but he could read many of the Irken's signs and translate some of their broadcasts.

There was nothing strange or out of place on the can... but he still was hesitant to drink it.

He recalled a moment at the prison, while he was continuously tortured, that the guards had taunted him with a similar looking beverage... only it was poisoned.

He'd been poisoned. His insides had felt like they were twisting and melting.

He nearly gagged at the memory.

"I'll pass..." he decided, and he moved to place the soda can down beside his seat.

Darden caught his arm and held it tightly.

Lard Nar could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

Oh Galre... Darden was going to force him to drink it wasn't he?

"You belong to a species that can dehydrate," the Irken stated with a scowl.

"Yes... but I'm fine..." Lard Nar tried to protest as he attempted to pull his arm out of Darden's grasp.

"You may be fine now, but you won't be if you refuse to drink anything," Darden said, sounding annoyed. "We are going to be flying for another 30 hours."

Lard Nar's heart was racing and his breathing was becoming faster. Suddenly the walls around him gave him the feeling of being trapped. There was no where to run or hide. He was stuck on board this ship with an Irken soldier who could hurt him or do much worse... but he couldn't back down.

He wasn't going to cower in fear and let Darden do whatever he pleased.

"Let go..." he spoke in a calm but firm tone, and he was surprised when Darden released him. He leaned against the wall and rubbed the spot on his arm the Irken had been holding. "Don't touch me like that again."

Darden looked down at his hand as he returned it to the controls. "I never meant this action as a threat," he stated, and his antennae flicked back. "I was trying to show you some concern... however, since you're uncomfortable with physical contact I'll refrain from it. Do note that both of my hands are gloved so there was no actual touching between us."

The Irken then returned his attention to the monitor and whatever was beyond the space-shield.

Lard Nar took a moment to catch his breath. He brought a hand to his chest while the other one squeezed the can tight.

Darden could have deployed his PAK legs and impaled him... but instead the Irken had let the subject drop easily enough.

"I... I don't know if I can drink this without getting sick..." he admitted quietly.

"I'm pretty sure that product has been tested on non-Irkens. As far as I know there were no ill affects as long as it wasn't being drunk excessively. The can is also completely sealed, so there's no way it could be tampered with," Darden's gaze shifted to him. "But if you are still concerned, then I'd suggest taking a sip and waiting an hour before taking another and so on."

Again Darden's attention returned to driving.

Lard Nar fiddled with the can a little before pulling the tab. It hissed as he cracked it open. He felt a bit better since it seemed Darden had no interest in forcing him to do anything... but it still took a little while before he had a taste.

It was very sugary. He coughed when the sweetness hit his tongue. He could only handle a small mouthful. Was there any actual water or other similar liquid in this or was it pure liquid sugar?

"Are you sure this is safe for non-Irkens?" Lard Nar asked. He was starting to have his doubts again.

"Just don't drink several cans at one time..." Darden warned him."There's not enough space in this vessel for you to succumb to a fit of hyperactivity."

It was several hours later when Lard Nar decided to start another conversation with the solemn soldier. He'd been thinking about what to ask for quite a while... he knew that despite Darden no longer being a part of the Empire, the Irken was still loyal to his people and his Tallest.

"Did you always want to be a soldier?"

Darden's gaze shifted to Lard Nar briefly before returning to the space-shield.

"It's considered an ideal placement, but I wasn't expecting to gain the height to become a soldier, so no."

"Then what were you hoping to be?"

"An invader," Darden answered with his usual abruptness. "I completed the necessary training, but I wasn't considered sneaky or subtle enough to blend in with other societies properly, so I failed the final testing. I would have been a regular Irken citizen if I didn't grow any taller, but I did, so they made me a soldier."

"I see..." Lard Nar let out a sigh.

When Darden spoke about his life he made Irkens sound almost normal.

"If there was a way for you to return to the Empire..." he trailed off when he noticed Darden's gaze harden, and his grip on the controls tighten.

"The only way that could happen would be for me to face Judgment, and there would be no guarantee I wouldn't have my data erased in the presence of my Tallest."

"You could have your name cleared," Lard Nar said.

He was thinking of the ways Darden might return to the Empire. He was worried about it since Daren knew enough information about the Resisty to cause a lot of damage to them if he decided to take what he knew back to the Tallest.

"There could be evidence of Bann's defectiveness."

"If I was found guilty however, the whole Empire would know about it... I think maybe the Tallest wanted to avoid having suspicion and distrust among the ranks. That or they didn't want to bother attending a trial on Judgementia. Either way, I should be grateful my reputation has only suffered a little despite my crime."

Lard Nar nodded to show the Irken he was listening, but he didn't say anything in response.

Darden adjusted the monitor near the controls. He stared at the screen for a moment before straightening up in his seat and pulling back on the controls, slowing the ship to a crawling pace.

Lard Nar leaned over to look at the monitor. There were worms ahead.

"Strap yourself in..." Darden instructed, and he snapped his own buckles in place. "We're going to have to power through these ones."

"Why not go around?" Lard Nar questioned as he hurriedly locked his own straps in place.

"Because there are only a few of them here, and if we try to go around we could run into more problems."

He pulled a couple levers and flipped a switch. Then he shoved the control stick forward and the ship jolted ahead, picking up speed quickly.

Lard Nar's hands dug into the armrests and she squeezed his eyes shut.

The roar of the engines meshed with the sound of the creature's screeching and clanging against the ship. The safety straps kept him from being jostled around too much, but the worms weren't just slowing them down, they were also slamming against the vessel and forcing it off course.

* * *

There had been a lot of noise up until a little while ago... the yelling, crashing, banging, and the loud piercing sirens and earthshaking explosions had all stopped. Everything was deathly quiet.

Laes let go of Veena and raised his hands when he realized he'd been clinging to her. He also backed into whoever was standing right behind him. "S-sorry," he stammered.

He wasn't sure how long they'd been trapped in this small underground bunker. The other Vortians were beginning to talk among themselves, whispering at first before their voices rose to a normal level.

Most of them sounded scared. Someone gave a nervous laugh.

Over this moderate amount of noise came a quiet beep, and the hatch above them hissed open.

Laes squinted as he peered up at what looked like an Irken guard. It was Pain he realized... he swallowed the lump in his throat.

He wanted to ask the Irken guard what was going on, but he also didn't want to draw attention to himself...

Why couldn't any of the other guards be standing there?

The hatch wasn't very big. Pain could probably climb through it if he wanted to, but a worm wouldn't be able to get inside.

Then there was a thud.

Pain wasn't looking in anymore. Did he fall?

Laes shielded his eyes as he strained to see.

The Irken hadn't fallen inside otherwise the Vortians near the opening would have said something or screamed or at least startled a bit.

Everyone had gone quiet again, but one of the braver prisoners near the hatch decided to ask for a boost up.

"Oh my ganre..." his voice was filled with disbelief. "I think the Irkens might be dead..."

There was a loud swooshing sound, and the Vortian let out a pained shriek.

Pain rolled into the hatch just before the worm could snap him up too. He landed on top of a few very startled Vortians before managing to sit on a vacant spot on the floor.

"Listen carefully..." he began.

His voice was hoarse and he was gripping a long gash in his broken armour.

Laes couldn't see him very well since there were quite a few prisoners standing in front of him, but he was pretty sure Pain was missing a leg. At least it looked like it was missing when the Irken fell.

"There are five other bunkers just like this one... two for each section in the prison..." he coughed, but despite whatever injuries he had he kept his tone level.

"None of them are supposed to be opened until the worms are gone... however, I went against protocol and opened this one. When you're sure the worms are no longer attacking... go and open the other bunkers. The first code is 80910..." He groaned as he shifted on the floor. "If you don't..."

A worm smashed its self into the floor near the hatch. It screeched, and its drool splattered on everyone close to the opening.

Then there was another. And another.

Laes covered his head with his arms and crouched down, but the sound was still deafening. Some of the Vortian's were screaming despite Pain insisting they be quiet.

Then the light filtering in from the hatch went out.

"Everyone be quiet!" Pain's voice rose over everyone else's.

The Irken began coughing violently. He was putting too much strain on himself.

After a long time of doing nothing but cowering in the dark, Laes was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and glanced up, remembering as he did how impossible it was to see anything.

It was quiet again. All he could hear was the constant and rhythmic sounds of the people around him breathing.

Slowly he moved to his feet, but the hand on his shoulder stayed put.

"Veena?" he guessed; his voice a small whisper.

"Shh," she shushed him louder than his voice had been, and her grip on his shoulder tightened.

Everyone kept quiet and relatively still for hours.

Laes' legs were starting to hurt. He kept rubbing them, hoping to ease some of the soreness.

He would sit down but he was worried since he couldn't see that he might accidentally sit in someone's lap since crouching straight down hurt about as much as standing did.

Then he heard Pain deploy his PAK legs. The guard really should have bled out by now... but Irkens had proven to be very durable. It was no wonder so many planets fell to them.

Pain was gone for only a few minutes. The clanking of his metal legs hitting the floor had stopped before the guard spoke.

"It's clear... but be careful. Watch out for the floor, and don't make a lot of noise."

A few Vortians close to the hatch were boosted up and out of the underground bunker. Then they started pulling others out.

Soon everyone had been freed, but there wasn't much light.

Laes could make out the outlines of a few Vortians closest to him if he squinted a bit.

The high windows that were barred up pretty good with steel and would have been barred again with electricity of the power was on was letting in a tiny bit of light, probably reflecting from whatever remained of the lab stations which pretty much looked like artificial moons.

He tripped on a chunk of something and fell into what felt like a decent sized hole.

There was a short sigh, and he felt two long pieces of cold metal lift him out.

"What did I just tell you?" That was Pain's voice... "The worms have destroyed parts of this facility... there is debris and shattered floors everywhere, so be careful."

"Um... thanks...?" Laes responded as the Irken set him down on his feet.

Why was Pain acting so friendly all of a sudden...?

Were the other Irkens really all dead?

"Why are there so many craters?" another Vortian asked.

"My comrades self-destructed to kill some of the worms," Pain responded, and he grunted a little. He sucked in a breath. "The Armada will be here soon..."

"I guess this would be a good time to escape huh?" someone else spoke up.

"You can try... but even if there are intact ships, there are more of those creatures out there..." Pain informed them. "For now you should release the rest of your people from the bunkers... without electricity they will eventually suffocate to death."

"But... but we can't see..." a different Vortian remarked.

The Vortians started to murmur among themselves.

"Pain... do you have um... night vision goggles?" Laes asked. He realized almost immediately after e asked that he had used the Irken's nickname, not his real name.

Hopefully he wouldn't be hit for it...

The Irken guard was quiet for a moment, but then Laes heard his PAK whir open.

"Here," Pain handed the goggles to him. "I'm sorry we failed to defend Vort..." he apologized just loud enough for Laes and a few of those standing nearby to hear.

Laes passed the goggles to someone who seemed eager to help.

A small group split away from the main one to go search for the other bunkers. The one with the goggles wrote down the different codes on a piece of paper just in case he forgot.

Would they be able to reach the other bunkers in time though? Irkens liked making whole planets into things, so it wasn't like the prison was just a small one on an island somewhere or something... no, it covered the whole planet.

It was only after they were gone Laes realized Veena wasn't around anymore...

She probably saw this as an opportunity to escape and took it.

This reminded Laes that he needed to do some searching of his own. He'd left the piece of technology housing Bann in his computer. He couldn't just leave it there...

After what was probably at least an hour of fumbling around in the dark looking for his former cell, and another long while fumbling around to find his computer, he was able to locate the device.

He pulled it out of the plug and held it tight as he began making his way back.

It was a good thing the other Vortians had started talking a bit more. He got turned around a few times, but once he heard a few voices he was able to follow them back to where most of the prisoners were gathered.

It sounded like there were more Vortians here now. Maybe the bunkers weren't too far away then, or maybe the teleporters were somehow brought back online...?

Laes bumped into someone, "sorry," he apologized quickly. "I uh..."

"Ryter?" a small timid voice came from a smaller group that was joining the bigger one.

"I'm here Negi," Pain responded.

With some strain, it sounded like the Irken guard was able to stand up without the use of his PAK.

"Ryter!" there was some running, followed by the sound of someone smacking into something kind of hard.

"Ouch. Ok. I'm alive just like I told you I would be," Pain spoke, and he chuckled.

Pain actually chuckled... Laes could hardly believe it.

The guard's usual harsh tone had been replaced with a lighter more friendly one. Could this really be the same Irken that mercilessly severed his hand from the rest of his body not that long ago?

What was going on exactly? Was this even the same guard?

Irkens were confusing.

"Hurt?" that was definitely the voice of a Vort child Laes realized.

"It's just a scratch, nothing to worry about," Pain responded without missing a beat. "How about you?"

"Scary," the child admitted.

This was friendship... maybe Irkens would call it something different... but it sounded like they'd been talking to each other for quite a while.

Maybe Irkens befriending Vortians wasn't such a weird thing. They'd been allies up until last year. Vortians made all of the Irken's weapons, ships, and other machinery in exchange for monies and protection. This meant that Irkens were free to pursue other areas of interest: such as their extensive military operations.

Both races were also able to ask favours from each other... like when Tallest Miyuki requested Zim be transferred to Vort Lab 9.

It had been a pretty good business relationship really. Then the accident happened (twice apparently although he'd only heard what happened to Tallest Spork much later) and the untrusting Irkens destroyed their treaty with Vort.

Even so... Bann became friends with him, and it looked like Pain had become friends with a Vortian too.

Should he be curious about this?

Maybe... but right now they had more pressing problems to deal with... like the fact that the Armada was here. He could hear the Irken vessels hovering in the sky.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** As you've probably noticed I do enjoy dialogue quite a bit.

Also the Armada has arrived which means there's a good chance the Tallest will finally make an appearance!


	7. Chapter 7

**The Dividing Lines**

When the Irken soldiers busted through whatever was left of the heavy metal doors, Pain did his best to intercept them.

Laes listened as the injured guard managed to haul himself to his feet... or foot... it was hard to imagine Pain without both of his legs.

Pain raised his voice to gain their attention, and a few of the soldiers stopped while others began to round up the now mostly freed prisoners.

Laes held on tightly to the device in his hand as he was pushed into the middle of the large hall or room or whatever they were right now.

Bann couldn't do anything as long as the power remained off... and he had no way of knowing how badly damaged the generators were. Everyone was being hauled or pushed into this room anyway, so no one would be able to get them working. At least not right now.

"What happened here?" One of the soldiers demanded. "Why are the prisoners outside of the bunkers? I thought the Tallest was clear about having them remain in confinement."

"The power was out... there wouldn't have been any air filtration... they could have died," Pain answered as quickly as he could.

There was an abrupt sound of clanking armour, and Pain let out a groan.

"That call was not yours to make!" the soldier snapped.

It sounded like the same Irken had just punched Pain.

"You're a disgrace to the Empire... just look at yourself, and you didn't even self-destruct!"

"I apologize sir..." Pain responded.

There was no emotion behind his words. Instead, his voice sounded hollow and almost robotic maybe?

"Why is one of my soldiers fighting with one of my guards?" a very familiar voice spoke.

"Sir! This guard did not obey your orders!" the same soldier shouted.

"And right now you're not following my orders either, considering I never asked you to beat up a guard if you found one alive."

There was a pause as the soldier thought over what he'd been told... then he let out a gasp and starting apologizing.

The Tallest was definitely the one speaking considering none of the Irkens would react that way to anyone else.

"Just go do what I told you to do," the Tallest insisted with more than just a hint of annoyance in his tone. He must have switched his attention to Pain, because the next thing he said was: "and you... What's your explanation for not following orders?"

"Vort was falling... communications were offline... I knew the Armada was on its way but I was unsure of how close it was, and there is a limited air supply for the prisoners... my superiors were dead so I made the call... I-I apologize my Tallest... I am prepared to face Judgment on Judgmentia for my rash behaviour."

"Yeah well, considering the high pressure situation I'm not going to make you do that, but I do expect you to follow my orders from now on, understood?"

Pain let out a sigh of relief. "Yes my Tallest..."

"Do you know how many are dead?"

"Both wardens and all of the other guards perished... as far as I know there was just one prisoner casualty in this section... but I haven't been able to check on the one hooked up to life support and the power is out."

Oh cripes... Laes nearly dropped the piece of the hologram device when he realized what Pain was talking about.

His dad might be dead or dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Soldiers, leave the prisoners," the Tallest abruptly told his followers. "We're leaving."

"What do you mean my Tallest...?" Pain questioned.

"There's too many of them now. We're done. Show's over."

It sounded as though the Tallest was moving back the way he and his soldiers had come in.

"But... we can't just leave the prisoners..." Pain spoke, his voice nearly cracking. "They'll die here... all of them... can't we do something?"

Everything became quiet for a moment, and the tension in the air became heavy.

"Guard... have you been talking to these prisoners?"

"My Tallest I..."

"Have you gotten friendly with any of them?"

"Sir... I just..."

"There's no time to talk about it now... but what you're experiencing can be fixed," the Tallest gave a very brief explanation that no one would really understand. "For now you're coming with us. Leave the prisoners. Whether they live or not isn't our problem."

Irk's leader sighed then muttered under his breath: "We've got a lot more important things to worry about right now."

"My Tallest... please..." Pain hesitated. He sounded very conflicted. "I can still..."

"That's an order," the Tallest told him strongly. "You can either come with us willingly or I'll have someone drag you with us. You don't have a choice."

Laes didn't want to speak. He was standing with a bunch of other Vortians around him. The Tallest wouldn't notice him at all if he didn't say anything... but the prisoners could all die in this place. Who knew how far away the worms were or if they would turn around and come back?

The prison was a wreck; it would no longer provide much protection for him and his people, especially if the worms decided to turn around and start attacking again.

"Tallest... um... Tallest Red?" Laes tried.

He could feel himself shrinking already.

"I uh... can I talk to you for a moment?"

He held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for a response.

He could hear the Vortians around him start mumbling very quietly. A few of them stepped away from him.

"Soldiers, return to the ships and bring the guard with you," the Tallest commanded.

All of the soldiers began to withdraw. They were leaving.

The Tallest was probably going to ignore him then... oh well. At least he tried to do something helpful...

"And you."

Laes couldn't see who the Tallest was addressing but the heavy pit in his stomach and the lump forming in his throat was telling him it was probably him.

"If you want to talk, come over here."

Laes swallowed, but the lump remained which meant speaking was going to be more difficult. Hopefully his voice would still work.

The other Vortians gave him plenty of space.

They were probably wondering what he was trying to do. He was wondering the same thing right now. Oh Vort..

He was pretty sure he had a good idea where the Tallest was based on where he'd heard the Irken's voice coming from. He stopped, but before he opened his mouth to speak, the Tallest said: "I'm over here."

Oh... it sounded like Irk's leader was standing a bit more to the left. He turned that direction and took one more step.

"Is um... that right?" Laes questioned.

"Good enough," the Tallest responded.

What should he say? For a very long moment, Laes couldn't think of anything. There were a lot of things he wanted to talk to the Tallest about, but no words came out.

At this rate the Tallest was going to get bored and leave and then he'd never be able to ask about...

"The Invaders," he managed to say in a quiet voice.

"What?"

He sucked in a breath and raised his gaze to where he thought the Tallest's face might be.

"I know about the Invaders."

There was a pause, so Laes continued, "I mean like... the old ones... the ones from before..."

Cripes! Laes suddenly found himself hanging in the air with the Tallest's hand around his throat.

He struggled feebly.

Maybe bringing up the Invaders was a bad idea. He should have just told the Tallest he was a jerk like the other Tallest asked him to... wait. That probably wouldn't have gone any better.

He kicked his feet uselessly as he made choking and sputtering noises. He couldn't breath. The darkness seemed to be getting darker too. He was probably going to pass out.

"How do you..." the Tallest hissed, but then he dropped Laes who landed hard on the floor. "This'll have to wait... I've just been told the worms are returning... they must have heard our ships... dlammit."

It sounded like the Tallest's voice was getting further away. Was he leaving...?

Laes slowly propped himself up, and then he felt himself getting hoisted off the ground. He was being carried like a sack of dirt again...

"What about the others?" Laes asked, and he started to struggle a bit.

"They're worm food..." the soldier responded.

Oh no. Veena was still there... and his parents.

He couldn't just get carried off somewhere without even trying to escape at all.

He started squirming, hoping somehow he'd be able to get out of his captor's hold, but it was no use. He wasn't strong enough to escape the soldier's clutches.

At least he'd been able to keep his grip on the hologram piece. All he had to do was find the proper outlet, plug in the device, and Bann would be able to talk again.

The Irken program might even take control of the Massive or whatever the Tallest was flying nowadays. Could the Irken's data do that...? Bann made it sound like he could mess with the prison's security network anyway...

There was enough room on the Massive to fit a very large number of people... If they could somehow gain control of the Irken's flagship then they'd be able to escape the worms.

* * *

"They didn't stay very long..." Darden commented as he watched the Armada begin to depart. "Something doesn't seem right about it... the worms are probably returning."

Lard Nar nodded in agreement.

He'd been watching and waiting for the armada to leave. He thought he should feel relieved when the ships started to fly away. Instead a feeling of dread settled in his chest. It felt like his heart was being squeezed.

"I've heard there are bunkers on the planet," Darden spoke. He looked and sounded calm despite the situation. "It's your call. Do you want to leave, or should we land and hope the bunkers will hold?"

"I didn't come here to turn around and abandon my people at the last minute..." Lard Nar told the Irken firmly.

"Alright... then I'll bring us down."

Darden moved to power up the thrusters, so Lard Nar grabbed his arm to stop him. The armada wasn't gone yet... the soldiers might see them if they went now.

"We don't have a lot of time... the Armada is retreating rapidly. They will not turn around to intercept a lone vessel flying to a doomed planet." Darden assured him.

"You're sure...?" Lard Nar questioned.

"Yes. It would be illogical for them to risk the whole Armada over one rogue Spittle Runner."

The communications alert light started flashing. Someone from the Armada had noticed the ship and were trying to contact them. It might even be the Tallest themselves calling. He glanced up at Darden who was wearing a stoic expression.

"I have to answer this," Darden said, pulling out of Lard Nar's grip. He pressed the call-receive button.

The face of one of the soldiers appeared on the monitor. Darden's eyes widened a little. The former soldier seemed to recognize the Irken on the screen.

"Explain why you are out of formation soldier..."

"I'm banished," Darden responded in his usual blunt manner. "I have no reason to be in formation."

"Oh."

"I do not have any intention on following the Armada."

"You realize there is a pack of worms heading towards you, don't you?"

"Yes, but I have business on Vort."

"Well... alright. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The call ended, and Darden returned his attention to Lard Nar who was sitting rigid in his seat.

"I told you they wouldn't be interested," Darden said as he boosted the thrusters and started them towards the planet.

His gaze returned to the desolate looking planet in front of them. Vort had already been attacked by the worms. The large gouges in the approaching building as well as the craters in the planet's surface showed this.

Darden landed the spittle runner in what was once the docking bay.

Most of the ships here had been smashed to pieces by the worms... and a part of the building had collapsed on one side so there was a lot of rubble covering the ground.

Once they were landed, Darden began entering something on his monitor.

Lard Nar watched him silently.

"I'm placing a lock code on this vessel so no one tries to steal it," Darden explained. "If we're lucky the worms might miss crushing it and we'll be able to use it again..."

"I'm sure there are enough supplies and able hands to fix up most of these ships," Lard Nar told the Irken.

"It's good to have options."

Lard Nar was the first one to leave the ship.

Darden followed him out of the side hatch. The Irken walked a few paces then stopped. His antennae flicked up, and he looked around. Then his eyes narrowed at something.

"If you are hoping to fly away from this planet, I would suggest waiting. The worms are going to return any moment," Darden told the person who was watching them from behind some rubble.

"Yeah, well you can't blame a girl for trying," Veena spoke as she stepped out into the open.

Most of the ceiling was collapsed, and the Vort Labs in the night sky were reflecting enough light to see.

"Veena?" Lard Nar questioned. "Why are you here?"

"The Irkens caught me on Foodcourtia," she responded with a shrug. "They confiscated my laptop and took all of my files..." Her expression hardened. "I'm sure they found a lot of buyers who were on their hit list even though I did my best to scramble the information."

"Have you seen Laes?"

Veena sighed and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I left him back there with the others," she said, gesturing through the partially collapsed passage which led further into the prison.

"You aren't just here to rescue him are you?"

"No," Lard Nar immediately responded. He cared about his people and his home planet too. He wanted to see them all to safety. "I'm concerned about everyone..."

"I'm only here for that purpose," Darden replied.

Veena looked up at the guard and frowned.

"You're that Irken body-guard who was with Laes on Foodcourtia."

"That's correct," Darden said, and his antennae flattened in annoyance. "It's stupid to talk here... we need to get underground. Now."

"Yes. We should, " Lard Nar agreed.

"Follow me then," Veena told them as she turned and began walking into the building. "I'll take you to one of the bunkers."

A faint but familiar screech sounded over head. Lard Nar looked up instantly to see a large worm flying through the sky above. Then there was another. And another.

"Run!" Darden snapped.

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **Invader Johnny:** Everyone was relatively happy until Tallest Miyuki was devoured. Thanks a lot Zim. I'm glad you found the last chapter interesting.

 **Guest:** But what is your name mysterious stranger? Ha ha, glad I could surprise you with a quick update. I've been surprising myself too to be honest.

 **SugarCitrus:** I'm glad you've liked the last few chapters. As for Pain, this chapter makes him a little more three dimensional I think. He's not just the jerk that tortures prisoners. He's got a whole other side to him.

 **animefairi:** You're correct! Negi is just a little guy. Pain's comrades were the other guards, so Angry-Shiela, Buckram, Grumps, etc, are all dead. The Warden Slappy is also dead.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes/Warning:** There will be some violence and blood.

Just like old times, except not really like old times, (I just wanted to say that).

After fighting with the bot scanner for a while, I finally managed to log on!

Apparently I can't tell what a storefront is, therefore I'm not a human.

* * *

 **The Invaders' Secret**

Laes huddled in one of the corners of what he assumed to be a small empty closet.

It was darker in here than it had been in the bunker.

The soldier who'd dragged him on board the Massive had tossed him inside. Then the doors closed.

Now he was waiting for something to happen.

The Tallest seemed angry with him for mentioning the Invaders... it was a black spot on Irken history, and as an outsider he probably shouldn't know about it.

This was an understandable thing really... and he should have maybe brought it up with another Irken first before mentioning it to the Tallest to test for this kind of overly-hostile reaction.

He held up the piece of metal that had Bann's data inside. All he needed was a computer of some kind... but even Irkens wouldn't keep that kind of equipment inside a closet.

He had to get out of here somehow.

The door glided open, and Laes fumbled to hide the device he was holding.

The Tallest stood in the entrance and he leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. His crimson red eyes narrowed and his antennae flicked back.

"So..." he began as he stared down at Laes. "How do you know about the Invaders?"

"Um... well... Bann told me..." Laes replied, keeping his eyes lowered and his head bowed.

There was a long pause.

"That's it?" The Tallest spoke, interrupting the silence.

"Well... technically he told me and gave me horrible nightmares about it..." Laes admitted. He glanced quickly around the small space. "So um... how long are you going to keep me in this closet...?"

Red sighed and rubbed his temples. "You can come out... I just did that so it wouldn't look like I was showing you any kind of special treatment or something."

"Oh... really?" Laes questioned, glancing up at the Tallest's face briefly. It was hard to tell what Irk's leader was thinking. He definitely didn't have the most readable expression right now.

"Um... so... about the Invaders... I uh, I guess you looked into it?"

"That's what I've been doing for the past week," the Tallest answered.

"And... the other Tallest...?"

Red waved Laes' question away, dismissing it completely. Then he asked, "how much about the Invaders do you know?"

"I..." Laes' expression fell. "I know they were pretty awful... not a lot of people know about them... they're the reason Irkens... why you guys are..." shoot. What was another word for 'paranoid?'

He forced a smile. "Not very trusting of non-Irkens."

"Is that all you know?" Red asked.

"Um... yes," Laes tried to remember what else he'd seen in the dream, but he was pretty sure he'd said about everything. "Oh," hold on. There was one more thing.

"Your people killed off the Invaders right? I mean... it sounded like they did."

Red glanced over his shoulder. His antennae twitched, listening for anyone who might be trying to eaves drop.

"Let's continue talking about this in private," the Tallest suggested. "This stuff isn't exactly talked about in the Empire, or even known about really."

The Tallest turned and began floating down the hall.

Laes rose to his feet and stumbled out of the closet. His legs were a bit wobbly, but he managed to keep up with the Tallest.

Irk's leader led him to a platform that descended to the next level. Once it landed they passed by a few more doors and rounded another corner before Red came to a stop.

Laes stopped as soon as the Tallest did. Irk's leader punched in a code, unlocking the door which slid open.

He followed the Tallest inside, and he flinched when the doors clicked shut behind him. Again he was alone with Irk's leader... it wouldn't take much for the Tallest to kill him really. He wouldn't have a chance to runaway anymore either.

Nervously he began to take in his surroundings.

Oh... his eyes lingered on the couch on the other side of the room. So that's what happened to the Universe's most comfortable couch.

There was a metal coffee table sitting in front of it and a few dim twisted lights coming up from the floor. A couple machines were beside the couch, and there was a big screen taking up most of the wall opposite of it.

Laes wondered if he should start by saying something, but the Tallest spoke first.

"According to our records... the ones written by hand in our older archives... we didn't kill all of the Invaders. One survived."

"Really? But... he would have died by now right?

"It was a she apparently, and yes, she would be dead by now," the Tallest responded, dragging a hand down his face. "Honestly, if I had anyone else to talk to about this you wouldn't be here... but believe me. Vortians and Irkens have a much more interesting history than either of us would've guessed."

Laes blinked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Red let out a sigh, and he covered his eyes with one of his hands and murmured something unintelligible. He sighed again. Whatever he was thinking about was obviously troubling him.

"Vortians have Invader DNA."

"What?" Laes questioned, his eyes widening. He looked down at himself and then back up at the Tallest. "Really? Are you sure? I mean, none of us could ever complete the invader training stuff you do..."

The Tallest crossed his arms and straightened his posture.

"Invaders weren't physically strong. At least none of the records I found said they were. They were smart."

Laes grasped his bad arm and chewed his lower lip. This was definitely a startling revelation.

"But are you sure we have their DNA? None of Vort's history lessons have ever included anything about Invaders."

"I read through some of your history... your people used to believe in a "goddess of knowledge."

"Yeah, but that was..." Laes' mind froze for a second. This was a lot to take in. "That was..." His mind kick-started its self and began wrestling with this new information. "Oh..."

This actually made some sense... His planet's history... everything that made Vortians Vortian was given to them by a more advanced species of some kind. An Invader.

In the early days his people wouldn't have known about other populated planets in the universe, so they probably would have thought that a visitor from another world was a deity.

"Most of you, if not all of you, carry her DNA."

"But that was a long time ago... like thousands of years... and we didn't have a choice..." Laes started, managing a nervous half-smile. "We've worked together to advance both of our societies since then. We don't have to be enemies."

The Tallest sighed, and his antennae fell back.

"Things aren't that simple."

"What do you mean...?" Laes asked.

Irk's leader glared at him, and he flinched.

"Do you know what Irkens were originally programmed to do?"

"Yeah uh, they were supposed to protect the Invaders... but you guys reprogrammed your PAKs. You changed it so your loyalty would be to the Empire and your own people... um... the Tallest, rather than the Invaders."

"Except our current programs are based off of the original program... it's never really gone anywhere because the Control Brains never considered it a problem. It was altered, not erased, and it's especially noticeable when Irken PAKs are coded with what we were originally purposed for: soldiers and guards."

"So there's two programs?" Laes questioned frowning a little in thought.

He rubbed his chin and 'hmmed' to himself.

"There are two sets of loyalties: one to the Invaders, or those with Invader DNA, and one for what we reprogrammed ourselves for," the Tallest explained.

"H-hold on..." Laes raised his hand and his stump defensively. "Are you saying the reason Bann started helping me is because of my DNA? How can your loyalty programs even tell we have it?"

"I don't know how... all I know is that we never had this problem before we conquered Vort."

"Ok, so... I'm just going to go through everything again to make sure I'm understanding things properly..." Laes spoke, lowering his arms back down.

"Ok um, please correct me if I got anything wrong... so uh, Irkens were originally programmed to be loyal to the Invaders, but your ancestors reprogrammed the old program, rather than having it deleted, to be loyal to Irk and Irk's leaders.

At the same time, a surviving Invader started to uh... spread her DNA among my people's ancestors... which sounds kind of... I mean... how did she do that...? Like... is it the same way we..."

"I never found that information, and I really don't want to know," the Tallest admitted, looking away from the Vortian.

That seemed fair enough, so he continued, "the 1st program was pretty much dormant because of the second one, but being coded as a soldier or guard, and being near Invader DNA, somehow works to reawaken the 1st program: to protect Invaders."

He paused for a moment before continuing. This was a bunch of crazy information he was getting all at once... it really was.

"And since Vortians have Invader DNA, this older program makes Irkens want to protect us... but it's an individual program isn't it? I mean, just because Bann wanted to protect me didn't mean he wanted to protect Lard Nar or the Resisty or anything."

Bann wouldn't have helped Lard Nar if he hadn't asked him to. The young guard had made that pretty clear.

"I think the original program was meant to be like that... for most of us... I'm not sure how many crazy experiments they did or what else they might have put in our PAKs back then."

The Tallest continued: "an Irken was only supposed to defend one Invader or one family-unit at a time... at least that's what it sounded like. Maybe there were some who were supposed to protect their whole society too, I don't know, but I would think those ones would have had an easier time transitioning from the 1st program to the second one."

"How can we fix this?" Laes questioned.

That was the real question wasn't it? Somehow in the distant past both of their societies had been manipulated by the Invaders. There had to be away to undo at least some of the damage done to the Irkens.

The Tallest grew quiet. It was a bit unnerving.

Laes stood tense, waiting for Irk's leader to offer a suggestion.

"We could kill all of you," the Tallest responded after a while.

"I'm going to have to argue with tha..." Laes gasped when he found himself knocked onto his back.

The Tallest had summoned his PAK legs. Oh cripes... he scrambled into a sitting position, but the sharp point of the metal limb caught him in the torso and pinned him to the floor.

Staring up at the ceiling, he could feel blood oozing from the wound in his middle. Then came a sharp pain and he could taste the metallic flavor in his mouth. Tears blurred his vision of the ceiling and he let out a small whimper.

He'd been impaled hadn't he?

"I can't let you run around with this kind of information," the Tallest told him in a sombre tone. "Once all of the Vortians are dead, the 1st program will never be triggered again. This is what's best for the Empire."

"I-Is that... that why you left... my people... to die...?" Laes managed to mumble.

Also, how did the Tallest know that would be a permanent solution? What if someday something else caused the 1st program to reappear?

His vision was quickly fading to black.

He tried to help. He really did.

Now he was dying.

 _Laes... get close... get me to... his PAK._

Bann's voice sounded so far away.

How was he supposed to get the hologram device into the Tallest's PAK? Didn't Bann realize he was dying right now?

He managed to open his eyes. The Tallest's metal limb was right in front of his face almost...

His hand began searching for the hologram device holding Bann's data.

The Irken's PAK leg was right there. It was connected to his PAK... so maybe...

His fingers grasped the device in his pocket, and he managed to pull it out and place it against the metal limb. His whole arm was shaking... He groaned as he let his head fall back.

The device had stuck to the metal like a magnet.

Then everything became quiet as his vision was swallowed up by darkness.

* * *

It was the strangest sensation... first he felt like he was thrashing against the waves, just trying to stay floating. Whatever energy he had was being used to fight against the defenses put in place. Everything was trying to force him out.

Next came huge amounts of data... memories, flashbacks, and knowledge from the host. It was overwhelming, coming from every direction and none at all.

Then he could see... he could hear... he wasn't trapped inside a screen anymore as formless data. Everything looked so clear.

His mouth curled into a smile, and he glanced down at his hands. These were his hands now.

The feeling of elation and relief quickly passed when he realized Laes wasn't moving.

He recalled the PAK-leg piercing the Vortian. It was still coated in blood. He withdrew it, but the damage had already been done.

He tried to take a step and nearly lost his balance. Right. He was in the Tallest's body, so he was floating.

Laes needed him. That's the only thing that mattered right now. Whatever new information he just gained could be processed later.

He fiddled with the hover-belt and managed to turn it off. He fell awkwardly onto the floor. Apparently the Tallest's attire wasn't built for mobility.

Laes was bleeding out.

He hurried to the Vortians side and crouched down. He moved some fabric away from the wound.

Blood was pooling on the floor. The metal limb had likely gone through at least one of Laes' organs.

Carefully he drew the Vortian into his arms and carried him out of the room. He needed to find medical supplies right now or Laes wouldn't stand a chance.

Their PAKs could fix a lot, but they couldn't fix everything. There had to be at least one medic on board the Massive.

There was a janitor mopping the hallway, so he sent her to find the medic and have them prepare for emergency surgery.

He ended up following her to the med-bay.

There were two medics and they immediately began rushing around, gathering supplies and sterilizing the metal table. One of them adjusted a light so it was shining almost straight down on the table while the other set out sutures scissors and swabs.

"Keep him from dying," Bann told them as he placed Laes down on the metal table.

He was trying to sound like his leader, but he couldn't hide the concern in his voice. He couldn't even make himself stay to watch the operation.

While he was waiting out in the hallway, he had time to reflect over everything his Tallest had learned.

Apparently his leader had done quite a bit of digging in Irk's old archives.

He would have to tell Laes about it when he woke up.

The Vortian had to wake up. With of the technology at his disposal there was no way he was going to let Laes die.

Squeezing his hands into fists, Bann clenched his teeth in anger.

He was angry at his Tallest for attacking Laes without any provocation.. but he was also angry with himself. He was supposed to protect the Vortian. It didn't matter to him whether or not Laes had Invader DNA or that his programming was probably responding to it.

There was something he could do while he was waiting for Laes to recover.

He uncurled his fingers and flicked the hover-belt back on. His feet rose off the floor until he was floating.

Then he started down the hallway towards the platform that could take him up to the control room.

With his Tallest's face he could order the pilots to do whatever he wanted. He could command the soldiers too.

* * *

 **More Notes:** Aaaand Bann 's back! ...Sort of!

 **True fact:** He has no idea how this will impact either him or the Tallest but he doesn't care so..


	9. Chapter 9

**Looming Danger**

With the worm's relentless assault there was no way the Vortians could fight back. They had to wait.

Fortunately most of the prisoners were able to return to the bunkers before the attack started.

Darden managed to rescue a couple Vortians who'd wandered too far away to make it back in time. He'd tucked one under each arm before jumping down into the bunker.

Of course Lard Nar had asked him to do this, since he never would have done it on his own accord, and he dropped them as soon as he could.

No one could speak to each other without attracting the worms' attention.

The crashing and clanging noises were very loud and it shook the small cramped space.

Darden was crouching near the open hatch. It wouldn't close without electricity. His antennae were raised and his body was tense. He seemed ready to launch himself out at any moment.

The ceiling was beginning to crack and fracture. It wouldn't be long before they broke inside.

Screams sounded from somewhere far away. Had the worms gotten into one of the bunkers? Were people dying right now? There was nothing he could do about it no matter how badly he wanted to help.

The Vortians were ducking down and some of them were clinging to each other. Then just as suddenly as they attack began, it stopped.

No one moved or spoke for a while.

Then Darden decided to climb out.

The former soldier stood near the hatch just in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. He shielded his eyes and looked up at the sky since most of the prison had collapsed.

"The Armada is leading them away," he said. He glanced down at the Vortians who were still huddled in the dark. "Stay there. I will let you know when they're gone."

It was a reckless thing for him to do... still, no one argued and after some time passed the Irken gave them the all clear.

"I'm sorry," Veena apologized to Lard Nar once everyone was above ground. "I left Laes right here... I don't know what happened to him."

"I'm not too sure about a "Laes," but Triple Seven was taken away by some Irken soldiers after he spoke to the Tallest earlier," one of the Vortians offered.

"Triple Seven is Laes' prisoner name..." Lard Nar spoke, and he rubbed his temples.

The Tallest had spoken with Laes before... even so... something didn't seem right about this...

Lard Nar looked up at the sky, but the sun was out. They couldn't see into space from here.

He was sure the Armada was long gone by now anyway.

"What does the Tallest want with Laes?" Veena asked, scowling. "He didn't sound like someone they would be interested in... No offense intended, but he seems... he can't have any useful information or abilities can he?"

Lard Nar turned to regard Darden who was glaring in the direction he'd seen the Armada fly off in.

"What do you think about this?" he asked the Irken.

Darden's scowl faded when he gave his full attention to Lard Nar. "I can't tell what my Tallest are planning... but if he was hauled away by the soldiers then he might have said something stupid to garner their wrath."

"Great..." Veena said as she dragged a hand down her face. "And I'm the one who left him alone."

"Laes is a grown Vortian who can take responsibility for his own idiotic choices," Darden told them both. "Besides, the witness said nothing about him being killed. There is a chance he's just being detained at the moment..."

The former soldier frowned and crossed his arms.

"Although, judging from the Armada's recent movements and the fact they are recalling Irken civilians to Irk... I would say there isn't much time before they abandon this galaxy and barricade themselves inside a barrier, not unlike what the Meekrob have already done."

"What about the planets they've conquered?" Veena demanded, balling her hands into fists as she glared up at him. "Your Empire left them all defenseless."

"We tried to kill the worms before they reached this critical stage," Darden responded. His expression didn't change at all as he continued, "but now the worms are spreading too quickly and have even begun to breed. It won't be long before it will be impossible for anyone to live outside of a very strong and well constructed barrier."

"This means every planet and every race is at risk of being wiped out..." Lard Nar concluded, burying his face in his hands. "That's horrible..."

"Yes... we are looking at a large scale extinction," Darden responded as a matter of fact. There was no emotion in his voice or his expression, as though the death of billions of people didn't matter to him.

"It's sounding kinda sad over here," someone commented.

This Vortian was approaching them from the long corridor. This former prisoner stretched his hands over his head and offered them a smile. Then he glanced all around him and 'hmmed' to himself as he brought a finger to his chin.

"I didn't think I was sleeping that long but it looks like they did some renovations while I was unconscious."

The stranger took a better look at the piles of debris, the large holes in the floor, the crumbling walls and almost non-existent ceiling.

"The Irkens should ask for a refund if you ask me."

"Did you say you were sleeping?" Veena questioned him in disbelief. "How?"

"Well I'm no expert on it, but I'm pretty sure whatever machine I was hooked up to was forcing me to sleep," the other Vortian responded, and he laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "But I guess the power was cut-off at some point, so I finally woke up."

"Ok... but how were you not eaten?" Veena asked.

The stranger blinked. "Eaten by what?"

"Giant flesh eating worms," Darden answered for her.

"Oh," the other Vortian looked around again before regarding the Irken. "We have those here?" He rubbed his cheek. "I thought I was dreaming. Guess it's a good thing I decided to roll under that cot for a bit after all."

This older Vortian didn't seem flustered or upset at all. There was also something that seemed familiar about him... Lard Nar couldn't quite place it. The other Vortian not only looked familiar, but his actions and expressions also reminded him of someone.

"Well, I should find my better half and my son," the former prisoner decided as he started to walk past them. "Thanks for the information. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for those worms you mentioned. I'm guessing they're worse than the sand ones considering the state of this place."

"Hold on," Veena said, snagging him by the wrist. "Didn't you say you just woke up? Are you sure you should be walking around right now?"

The other Vortian turned to her and smiled again.

"I'm alright, but I'm a bit concerned. I was dreaming about my son a little while ago." He brought a hand to his chest. "Call it a father's intuition, but I can't help feeling something might have happened to him."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"But I shouldn't be troubling you guys with my personal concerns. Unless you really want to hear all about them. Then I'll keep talking about it, no problem."

"Your son... his name wouldn't happen to be Laes would it?" Lard Nar questioned.

The similarities were too much to ignore.

"It is," the stranger responded happily. "People always tell he looks more like his mother, so I'm a bit surprised you guessed that. Did he tell you about me?"

"Well... no... he um..." Lard Nar murmured, lowering his gaze and clutching his arm close to his body.

He never expected to find himself face to face with Laes' father. He had given so many parents and relatives bad news about their children since he started the Resisty, but it never got easier.

"The Irkens took him," Veena interjected, letting go of the stranger's arm.

"I see, well, hopefully wherever they took him looks better than this place," Laes' father remarked. He held out his hand to Lard Nar. "I'm Freedo, former engineer, drafter, repair officer, among other things."

Was that really all Laes' father had to say...?

Lard Nar stared down at his hand. This guy seemed to be acting very casual despite his son being taken away. Of course there was nothing any of them could do about it, and there was no proof Laes was dead.

It took him a moment to realize Laes' father was doing an official Vortian greeting.

This was common in Vortian culture; to list their professions. That's how others learned what a person was capable of in case there was a job that needed doing, or someone knew of a job that needed doing.

Lard Nar slowly extended his hand and grasped the older Vortian's. He gave it a quick shake.

"Lard Nar..." he said. Then after a moment of hesitation. "Former engineer."

He let go of Freedo's hand and returned his gaze to the floor.

Veena didn't move to greet Freedo. Instead she kept her distance and folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm Veena, hacker, data collector, and programmer."

"It's nice to meet you," Freedo told her before regarding Darden. "You're not one of the guards are you? I don't recognize you."

"No," Darden responded, and he didn't offer any further information, even though Freedo seemed to be waiting for him to say something more.

The silence didn't last very long.

Freedo glanced down the next hallway before speaking.

"I should really try to find my life partner at least."

He gestured in the direction he was looking at before returning his attention to the group of three.

"She'll want to know Laes and I weren't eaten by worms, and that he's not on Vort anymore, again. For someone who's never left the planet before he's sure seems to be spending a lot of time away from it lately," he chuckled and shook his head as he began to walk away.

Once he rounded the corner, Veena glanced side-ways at Lard Nar.

"Do you think he understood everything that's going on right now?"

"I'm not sure..." Lard Nar admitted.

His attention shifted to a small group of Vortians mulling around nearby. Most of them were talking to each other and searching through the debris for useful building materials while a few of them seemed content to just watch.

"But right now I think repairing whatever ships we can salvage and evacuating the planet should be our first priority."

"And where do you plan to evacuate to exactly?" Darden questioned him.

Lard Nar looked up at the Irken.

Darden's expression was neutral and his body seemed relaxed enough. It was an honest question.

"There are more worms now than even the Armada can handle... and as long as they can find a food source, more will come," the Irken informed him.

"Th-then..." whatever false confidence Lard Nar felt instantly vanished.

"Perhaps it isn't my place to say since I am not an engineer, but I would suggest you and your people build up your planet's defence systems instead. Get the energy generators running and rework the shields so that there's less sound."

Darden continued: "I'm giving you this advice based on what I've seen work for the Empire... the worms are attracted to noise more than anything else. Also regular shields will not work. You will need a powerful one, or multiple ones. You will also need a nearly infinite energy supply to power it considering we are unsure how long it will take for the worms to leave and any breaks or weaknesses in the defences could get everyone killed."

"That requires constant monitoring of the energy levels and the shield itself," Veena stated.

She didn't sound the least bit put off by the Irken's suggestion, but then they still had the prototype of the infinite energy producing thing probably, so having a very powerful shield that could run for decades wasn't an impossible idea.

They would have to track down where the device was being stored though, and then they would have to build a fully functioning one based off of this prototype.

The Irkens had already done something with the real one.

"I would suggest monitoring them in shifts then," Darden responded.

The Irkens had been dealing with the worms for a short amount of time, but they still knew a whole lot more about the creatures than anyone else did.

It wasn't that long ago that he didn't consider the worms a threat. There had only been a few of them at first, and they seemed less interested in the Resisty and more interested in the Armada.

When it became apparent the worms were ravenous and would eat anyone they came across however, that's when he built the cloaking device which turned the Resisty's ships invisible.

He'd been working on this cloaking system to use against the Irkens, but the worms definitely pressed him to complete it faster.

"If the worms couldn't see the planet, and met with a normal barrier, would they attempt to break through it?" Lard Nar asked Darden.

The Irken stood quiet for a while before responding, "that would be considered too risky by our standards, plus we do not have that kind of cloaking technology readily available."

"I have that technology..." he paused to consider what he should say next. "The Resisty has that technology right now, but I can make another cloaking device if I need to."

"Again, it sounds too risk..."

"If it fails we could use the bunkers," Veena suggested, interrupting Darden.

"For a while, yes," Darden agreed. "However, we received reports from front line soldiers that these worms can in fact break apart planets, and your planet has already survived two attacks. I honestly don't think it could survive third."

"They break apart planets...?" Lard Nar repeated quietly in disbelief.

How was that even possible...?

"Yes," Darden responded, scowling down at him. "I just told you this."

"But even if we had a shield that was strong enough to deflect them for an extended period of time, how would we get supplies?" Lard Nar pressed although his resolve was starting to waiver.

He was beginning to realize that if they managed to not get eaten themselves then they would likely die of starvation... if that was how their lives were going to end, it might be better to be devoured quickly than to suffer the agony of slowly wasting away.

"I'm sure the wardens had prepared for this type of lock-down," Darden spoke. His voice sounded calm, and his posture was relaxed. The Irken didn't seemed concerned at all.

"There will be at least a few months of supplies stored away somewhere... but you're right. After those supplies run out getting more will become a problem, though I'm sure if you converse with your people someone will have an idea on what should happen when that time comes. Vortians are not a stupid race."

Lard Nar's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Darden's expressionless face. The Irken was actually telling him to worry about starving later as though the idea of it wasn't currently worth thinking about.

"If you want to gather your people together, I will explain about the threat we're currently facing and what is needed to stop them," Darden offered after a few moments of thoughtful silence.

"So you're going to help us then?" Veena questioned; her eyes narrowing in distrust. "Why?"

"Because my orders were to protect Laes, and since his parents are here I'm sure he will return whether the worms are attacking or not," Darden answered without a moment's hesitation.

Lard Nar dragged a hand down his face. The Irken was right... Laes wouldn't care about how dangerous returning was if his parents were still here. Besides that, his planet was falling apart... the prison was pretty much a ruin now. They would only have scraps to work with.

He didn't doubt these worms could destroy a planet after witnessing what they did to the jungle planet.

"Well, I'll start gathering everyone over here," Veena offered before walking towards a small group of Vortians talking nearby.

"I'll go speak with some of the others about this idea," Lard Nar said, and then he began walking down one of the splintered hallways.

Since the Prison made up their entire planet, there was no way for them to communicate with the prisoners further away until the power was turned back on.

That would be their first priority then: restoring power to whatever was left of the building.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Look at Freedo beating all of the odds and coming out alive! See? It can happen!

Also I apologize if there is any wonky wording or obvious spelling errors etc. I should have edited this chapter much more but I got depr—severely unmotivated.

I'm going to lie and say I'm totally fine mentally, and there definitely isn't any kind of concerning pain shooting through my arms and hands at the moment! Ha ha.

I can't promise quick updates right now but they will continue to happen. I will not abandon this fic the same way I abandoned all of the others! Err... I mean. I could still update those one day possibly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Struggle for Control**

He was definitely not dead... he was in too much pain to be dead.

Wearily Laes opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

It was difficult to breath.

A machine seemed to be helping him with this. A tube or something was jammed in his throat. He wanted to remove it but he didn't think he could lift his arms.

He tried lifting his arms, and he realized very quickly they wouldn't move. His assumption was correct.

He wished it wasn't...

Irken and Vortian technology was too advanced he decided... he really should be dead already.

Natural selection hadn't been a reality on Vort for a long time. This kind of medical advancement pretty much got rid of it several hundred years ago. That's the only reason he was alive despite having no survival skills...

"Thank the Control Brains you're awake," the Tallest spoke, looking down at him with what he guessed was a concerned expression.

The Irken leader's voice sounded concerned anyway... now he just needed his vision to clear a bit.

Hold on... why would the Tallest be concerned? Didn't the Irk's leader impale him not long ago...?

The Tallest seemed to recognize his confused expression because the Irken gestured to himself and said: "I'm Bann, remember?"

Laes wanted to say something about that, but he couldn't. Whatever was in his throat wouldn't let him speak.

He probably would have just commented on how creepy it was anyway... that's what he was thinking at the moment. Through the pain. Cripes.

"You were very close to dying Laes..." The Tall... Bann spoke running a hand over his antennae, flattening them. "I thought..." he offered a smile. "But you're ok now. Well, obviously you're still recovering, but you're not going to die. You'll have a pretty good scar though."

Laes moaned a little and closed his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood to talk right now, and he was trying to let Bann know this.

"But seriously Laes..." the Tall... Bann's eyes narrowed at him and he crossed his arms.

"What were you thinking...? The Tallest is the head of the reorganized version of the original program. Our leader's existence was meant to replace the Invaders... you staying to talk to him was pretty much a direct challenge to his authority. You should've run the moment he said you had Invader DNA. You know that right?"

 _Now that I have a gaping hole in my body, yeah, I know I should've run away..._ he wanted to say but couldn't. Instead he thought it very loudly, hoping Bann would somehow... just know?

Ok that maybe that was a silly thought, but he was in too much pain to care.

Whatever medications he was on right now must be messing with his thinking.

"It's hard to believe you and your people have Invader DNA..." Bann shook his head and brought a hand to his cheek. "I didn't read everything I came across, but to think I missed such important information..." he sighed and moved closer to the bed.

The Irken carefully touched Laes' bad arm near the wrist where his hand was severed.

"It doesn't bother me that my programming was altered by you. My life has always been a bunch of codes and formalities... but because of you I was given the option to choose which program to follow. For the first, and last, time in my life I was able to know what it felt like to have a choice and to make my own decision. Most Irkens will never get to experience that feeling."

After Bann said this, the Irken's voice began fading and his words sounded muffled and slurred together.

Laes couldn't focus anymore.

* * *

Laes wasn't responding at all. His body was completely relaxed.

The Vortian had probably passed out from the pain.

Bann sighed and rubbed his temples.

Once Laes was stable enough to move, he'd take the Vortian back to Vort.

After nearly dying he expected Laes would want to be near his family and friends.

A sharp crippling ache in his head caused him to grasp it with both hands... it was getting more painful and more frequent.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could maintain control over the Tallest's body.

He was a foreign entity inside the Irken leader's PAK, and the device seemed to recognize this... it was trying to force his programming out.

If he lost control of the Tallest, then Laes would die. He needed to get the Vortian back to Vort first.

As far as he knew the Armada had succeeded in drawing the worms away. The Massive was currently separated from the rest of the fleet that was engaged in fighting the creatures.

He'd felt all of his leader's emotions, and he knew all of the Tallest's thoughts. The rage and hatred. The pain and sadness.

It was difficult to separate his own thoughts and feelings... but he knew now that the other Tallest was incapacitated and would likely never wake up.

Before landing on Vort, the Tallest had even been crying about it, but he'd forced himself to act indifferent in front of his followers.

Thinking about the Invaders was keeping the Tallest's mind preoccupied. It was giving him an escape from his own bitter reality.

Sometimes there would be a flash of anger or an image of something that would trigger a massive head ache. The Tallest was fighting to regain control. His head felt like it was going to split apart...

The only reason he'd been able to remain for so long was because he'd caught his leader completely off guard. The Tallest's defenses were down and he used that opportunity to infiltrate his PAK.

"Hgnn.." he squeezed his eyes shut, clasping his head as he waited for the wave of pain to pass.

It wouldn't be long before he lost control of this body... he needed to get Laes out of here now... but the Vortian wasn't recovered enough to move on his own... he'd have to send someone with Laes.

As long as he was pretending to be his leader no one would question his orders... but he didn't want to send just anyone to Vort. The last thing the Vortians needed was more conflict, and Irkens were usually good at starting that.

There was one guard from Vort being held in a holding cell on the Massive. He'd overheard a few of the technicians muttering about him being a Vortian sympathizer. He probably wouldn't argue about being sent to Vort then, but the guard was missing a leg, so he wasn't fully mobile.

It would be better to send someone who at least had all of their limbs still attached.

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the main lobby which was once a cafeteria. There were thousands of Vortians talking an mulling around. There had been quite a few reunions between parents and partners. It was understandable that the family groups wanted to spend some time catching up.

That's why he couldn't say anything to them...

"That's enough talking!" Darden's voice boomed over the chatter.

The Irken's antennae were flat and his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the Vortians in front of him. The large crowd immediately quieted.

"The worms are gone, but they could return at any time. What you need right now is an impenetrable defence system. Talking can wait until after a barrier or two are in place."

"Um... so... we need a barrier...?" a female Vortian near the front of the large group asked.

"A world wide barrier," Darden corrected her. "A strong one, but it needs to be quiet as well."

The Vortians started talking again. A few of them began looking around for materials to gather, while others began describing what they should be looking for, and more were offering suggestions between different components.

The room was busy with activity.

"You should help them too," Darden suggested, glancing at Lard Nar who was watching everyone silently.

Veena was speaking to a smaller group of Vortians. They were beginning to sketch things into the floor using bits of sharp metal debris. They were probably going over the different codes that would be needed to help regulate and monitor the energy supply.

A smaller group had broken away from them, likely hoping to locate the original power supply for the prison.

Everyone had begun this project so naturally... Lard Nar looked down at his maimed hands and he curled them into fists... a couple of his fingers had been removed during his torture sessions... he was also missing an eye. If he tried to help he would likely only slow the able bodied Vortians down.

"You wanted to make one of those invisible barriers didn't you?" Darden questioned with a frown.

"You said it wouldn't be a good idea," Lard Nar reminded him.

"I believe I mentioned having one of those barriers with a weak protection barrier was a bad idea. It's fine if it's covering a strong one."

"Well... I'll bring it up with the engineers..." Lard Nar decided, and he winced when Darden's hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"You are more than capable of helping them, so why are you hesitating?" Darden didn't wait to hear an answer, instead he withdrew his hand and continued, "I hope you didn't come to this planet just to watch everyone else work. If you did, then I will regret letting you come with me."

"Didn't you come here to protect Laes?" Lard Nar retorted. The Irken wasn't doing his job at the moment, so having him talk about what he should be doing didn't sound right.

Darden's eyes narrowed at him. "Yes. And since Laes is not here and there is currently no way for me to reach him, I am offering you my assistance. If you have a problem with this then I will be content to stand here and watch everyone else work."

The Irken had been helping... not only had Darden freely offered them information about the worms and what could stop them, he'd also managed to get everyone to start working on the project relatively quickly. Whatever anger he was feeling towards the soldier was because he was Irken, not because of anything he was or wasn't doing.

"Sorry..." Lard Nar mumbled, rubbing his arm as he lowered his gaze. "You're right..."

"I usually am," Darden responded dismissively. "Now if you need my assistance for anything, you can ask as long as you keep in mind I'm not a programmer or an engineer."

"So... you'll do the heavy lifting...?"

The Irken's antennae flicked forward before flattening again. "Yes. That's something I can do."

Everyone automatically started working together. Even Darden was able to see what needed to be moved before anyone asked. Large chunks of workable material was gathered together after being separated from the useless debris. There was a lot of useful materials mixed in with the rubble.

Despite how they'd been treated by the Irken guards, no one seemed bothered by Darden's presence.

Lard Nar had a little more trouble getting into the flow of things. He wasn't used to working as a part of a team anymore since none of the Resisty members could help him with his projects, and his missing fingers made him a bit clumsy. He also realized pretty quickly that he couldn't catch anything that was passed to him.

Others noticed this pretty fast too, so they started walking over and handing him tools instead.

He'd lost track of Veena a long time ago, but it seemed most of the coders and programmers were gathering smaller materials right now: wires, nuts and bolts, different tools, and other things. All they needed was a power source so they could start soddering things back together.

The large group of Vortians had finished combing through the area for useful materials.

Most of it had been sorted into different piles.

A few diagrams had been drawn, discussed, and edited. Also the base of the first machine was just beginning to take shape.

There had been a lot of talk about whether or not they would build a very large barrier device or a few smaller ones, and it was decided that a few smaller ones made the most sense. That way if one of them stopped working there would still be others in place to maintain the barrier.

The first day past by quickly.

A few of the former project leaders from the different lab stations stepped in and began organizing different shifts so no one would be too worn out.

Someone even found a stash of excess prison uniforms, so those who were told to rest, used them as blankets and pillows. One of the hallways had been mostly cleared of debris, and this was where those not currently working slept.

A bit of food had been found in the guard's quarters, but unfortunately there wasn't much of it to go around. The only other alternative was the grey mush stuff they'd been forced to eat as prisoners. A lot of it had been broken open and spilled from its containment units, but oddly enough it still tasted exactly the same...

At least it would keep everyone alive probably...


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes:** So a random wall pipe started leaking very rapidly in my place causing a bunch of damage and what not, and I've been dealing with that whole mess, but it's the long weekend so I tried editing and here's the result of that.

* * *

 **Still Breathing**

It was early on the second day when a Voot Cruiser was spotted in the sky. The Irken ship landed where the docking bay once was, so whoever was driving it was probably familiar with the prison's layout.

Lard Nar dropped what he was doing to see if the driver might be Laes.

Darden followed him, likely thinking the same thing.

They stopped in front of the vessel just as the space shield lifted up.

"Hi there," the driver was an Irken who was a little taller than Lard Nar.

His mouth was covered by red fabric from his uniform. The red clothing was divided by a silver belt.

Judging by his outfit, this Irken was a navigator or a pilot.

Darden moved quickly to snag the Irken by his neckband. He held the technician up to his face and glared into the smaller Irken's ruby red eyes.

"Tell us what the Armada is doing," Darden demanded.

The smaller Irken grasped Darden's hand and grimaced. "Yes well... I just came to deliver... um... a Vortian here..." he gestured towards the voot. "He's uh, pretty hurt so..."

Darden dropped him, and he landed hard on the broken floor.

"Oof."

Lard Nar was already inside the Voot Cruiser.

His heart sank when he saw Laes lying behind the two chairs, connected to devices that had been brought along. The other Vortian was breathing hard, and his eyes were closed tight like he was in pain.

"Laes...?" Lard Nar tried, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Laes?"

"Shlit..." Darden swore when he looked over Lard Nar's shoulder and saw Laes unconscious and seemingly badly injured.

His attention returned to the pilot who was just picking himself off the ground. He strode over to the smaller Irken and snagged him by the arm, hoisting the pilot back into the air.

"What the helk happened to him!?" Darden demanded angrily.

"He umm..." the pilot managed an uneasy smile. "It seems he upset the Tallest, so he was impaled. I uh don't have all of the information, but I was told his spine was severed so uh... he has some technology embedded there so he can walk... just in case metal detectors... you know."

Darden shook the small Irken before flinging him back onto the floor. "You're very annoying... get out of my sight," he muttered.

Laes' eyes fluttered open and Lard Nar quickly clasped his hand. "Laes... you're here, you're on Vort, you're going to be ok..."

With a small whimper, Laes squeezed his eyes shut. He was being covered up to his neck by a white sheet, but there was a tube in his throat and he was hooked up to a breathing machine.

"There's drugs in the storage compartment," the smaller Irken dressed in pilot's garb spoke as he scrambled back to his feet. "He hasn't been able to really move or speak yet, but I was assured he'll likely get better. Probably. Maybe."

"If you don't shut your mouth I swear to the Control Brains..." Darden grumbled under his breath, squeezing his hands into fists.

"Woe, hey, I'm just the messenger here," the other Irken insisted, raising his hands in self-defense. "I'm not the one who maimed your friend."

"Are you going back to the Massive?" Darden asked, disregarding the Irken's statement. "If you are, I'd suggest you do so before you gain the Vortians' attention."

"Go back? I dunno," the Irken responded. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "My Tallest wasn't very clear about that part. He pretty much said take this guy and go, so here I am."

He pulled his communicator out of his PAK. "I guess I should call and get more instructions." He turned away from Darden. "Excuse me for a moment."

Darden approached the Irken and then grabbed the communicator out of his hands. The former soldier tore it off of its metal appendage, threw it on the ground, and crushed it under his boot.

Then he snagged the smaller Irken by his neckband and pulled him close to his face.

"You will be following my instructions from now on. Is that understood?"

"Normally I would since you're taller and everything, but you're also a banished disgrace, so I don't have to listen to anything you say."

The smaller Irken pinched a nerve in Darden's hand, forcing the former soldier to drop him. Then he dusted off his red uniform and readjusted his neckband.

"I don't mean any offence. It's just a fact."

"Darden, can you help me move him?" Lard Nar asked.

The former soldier didn't respond as he joined the Vortian at Laes' bedside. Laes was lying on a small make-shift cot. It looked as though it was made out of metal, but when Darden tried lifting it he discovered it was rather light. He could lift it without any assistance.

Lard Nar tried to carry the machine Laes was connected to, but it was too heavy.

"Guess I'll lend a hand since I'm not doing anything else right now," the navigator offered, and he extended his PAK legs and used two of them to carefully lift the device.

The Irken glanced around.

"Wow, this place has sure fallen apart. I guess that's why the Empire is abandoning it."

"Who are you...?" Lard Nar asked the talkative Irken.

"I'm Filik; a navigator from the Massive."

"Doesn't the Massive need its navigators...?" Lard Nar questioned him.

"Oh no. There's a lot of us, don't worry," Filik responded with a smile. "I bet I've already been replaced by one or two others by now. Being on standby is pretty boring, but I guess it's useful when stuff like this happens. Not that it happens often."

"Why did this happen...? What did the Tallest want...?"

One of the Irken's antennae flicked back then forward again.

"I was navigating the whole time, and I was told to fly here before any of the gossip could make it to the control room, so your guess is as good as mine." The navigator frowned. "The Tallest told me he hurt the Vortian himself though..."

His expression quickly lifted and he shrugged.

"I guess the Vortian said something rude and got stabbed for it. I'm surprised he wasn't torn in half to be honest. Have you seen the size of the Tallest's PAK appendages? I wouldn't want to be stabbed by one of those, no sir."

Darden placed Laes down in the hallway where a group of Vortians were sleeping. A lot of those who were awake saw Laes being brought in and had stopped working to see what was going on. Veena pushed through the crowd in order to join Lard Nar.

One of her hands covered her mouth as she stared silently at Laes who was struggling to breath. She glanced at Lard Nar who lowered his gaze to the floor. "How did this happen?" she asked.

The Irken navigator lowered the machine beside Laes' cot and his antennae perked up. His pak legs retreated back into his PAK, and he turned to regard the female Vortian.

"Yes, well, I'll only say it one more time ok? My Tallest stabbed him, almost in half, and now he's recovering. So yeah. Try not to move him too much or get him to talk or anything because it will really hurt."

"We need to tell his parents," Veena decided, as she dropped her arms to her sides and squared her shoulders. "I think I saw them with the team fixing one of the power generators." She started walking through the cafeteria towards a different crumbling hallway, shoving her way pat the curious Vortian bystanders.

Darden spun around to face the curious crowd with his hands clenched into fists. "Why are you all standing there? Do you want to get eaten?" he asked.

His shoulders were trembling and he ground his teeth.

All but two Vortians returned to their tasks. Both of them past by Darden and one of them placed a reassuring hand on Lard Nar's shoulder. "We know about medicine. We'll keep an eye on him."

Lard Nar slowly nodded his head, and he wrapped his arms around himself , staring down at the ground. He chewed his lower lip as he slowly moved away from Laes. He couldn't think properly... all of his thoughts were clouded and every time he tried to focus on one he couldn't.

After a little while he heard running, and he looked up to see Laes' father and who he assumed was Laes' mother hurrying to their son's bedside. They were holding hands, and while they seemed concerned, neither of them looked panicked.

Darden was standing close-by, keeping an eye on Laes from a distance. The Irken had been ordered to protect Laes... but the Tallest had nearly killed him. Did that mean Darden no longer had to follow his leader's original orders?

At least Laes' parents were still alive.

Lard Nar clasped his chest. It felt heavy... but then his whole family was gone... his father and older brother were killed while defending their planet... his mother had died in Irken custody.

His uncle had also been a planetary defender who died when the Irkens attacked, and his uncle's wife who'd been openly supportive of him and a former defender herself had been killed shortly after his death. Even his cousin who'd just started at the training academy was dead. They hadn't killed him right away... or so he heard. His cousin died while they were "interrogating" him.

He was the only one left... somehow despite his family's heavy involvement in Vort's military, he managed to slip under their radar.

His father had taught him how to operate a Vortian battle ship when he was younger. He knew how they worked and this was how he'd been able to teach the Resisty to drive it and access and use its weapons.

Despite his family's long history of involvement with the planetary defence team, he decided to become an engineer since there were very few openings in the military after Tallest Miyuki extended her protection over Vort. Most of the defenders' work shifted to local disputes... otherwise they were involved in inter-planet relations and making sure the transactions taking place between Vort and other planets were calm and civil affairs.

The Resisty was able to keep his mind preoccupied, and fighting for the freedom of enslaved planets gave him a purpose. He guessed in some way the rebels had become like his family to him... but then most of them had been killed too.

At least his two closest companions were still alive, but for how long? The worms were quickly filling up the galaxy and no one he'd left behind knew how to build a high-power energy barrier.

"Why are you crying?"

Darden's voice snapped him out of his spiralling thoughts.

He quickly wiped his tears away.

"It's nothing..." he murmured.

"I've been around non-Irkens long enough to know you're lying to me," Darden responded. He didn't sound angry, but there was a hint of something else in his voice... "I understand you not wanting to tell me as I most likely won't have the proper advice, but you could at least be honest with how you're feeling."

"Are you going to stop protecting Laes?" Lard Nar questioned, looking up at him.

The Irken frowned. "I can't do that."

"But your Tallest attacked him... your leaders almost killed him."

"Yes, but I was ordered to protect him, and my Tallest have not told me they've changed their minds."

Lard Nar gestured in Laes' direction. "Isn't it obvious they changed their minds?"

Darden's antennae flicked back. "If he was dead then I would say yes, but he's alive, so whether or not my Tallest meant to kill him is debatable."

"You know, I think my Tallest really did want to kill him, but then he changed his mind at the last second for whatever reason," Filik remarked without any sensitivity at all.

Lard Nar recoiled away when he realized the smaller Irken was standing so close. He hadn't heard the navigator approach, so he was surprised to see him standing there.

Filik shrugged. "Why else would my Tallest fix him after stabbing him right?"

"Are you able to tell us about the Armada's current status?" Darden asked the navigator. "Or are you hanging around just to be an annoyance?"

"Me?" Filik gestured at himself before pointing at Darden. "Tell you?" He shook his head and laughed. "Why would I tell you anything? You're not even a part of the Empire!"

"If you're going to be useless then I might as well kill you," Darden decided as he calmly deployed all four of his PAK's sharp metal appendages.

The Irken smirked up at the former soldier.

"Oh, do you really want to play that game?"

He held out his arm, revealing his self-destruct button.

"I have a whole bunch of loyalty to the Empire and absolutely zero loyalty to anyone here, so if you threaten my life I might just kill myself and everyone else in a fiery explosion of death." He placed a finger on the button. "What do you think? Should I do it?"

"I can easily contain the explosion within my force field," Darden stated, his eyes narrowing.

"Do you really think you can move fast enough to do that?"

Lard Nar noticed Darden glance at him before letting out a sigh and withdrawing his PAK legs.

"I... I'm going to get back to work..." Lard Nar decided. He walked in between both Irkens as he headed towards where a large number of Vortians who were designing blue prints.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Filik remarked, sounding almost a little too happy. "I'd help, but I really don't care whether any of you get eaten or not."

* * *

His head felt like it was stuffed with some kind of fluffy but painful material...

Laes managed to slowly open his eyes. The light wasn't harsh, but his eyes still stung a little.

Someone was holding his hand.

"Laes!" His father shouted much too loudly making his already pounding headache even worse.

"Not so loud dear," that was his mother's softer voice.

Both of them were ok? They were alive?

He struggled to sit up but he could hardly move and even the little bit of movement he managed to do hurt too much. He would have groaned if the tube wasn't in his throat. All he could do was whimper.

"The Irkens sure did a number on you son," his father commented. He looked like he was moving around a lot, pacing back and forth maybe. "Can you feel your legs? Try moving your legs."

Laes tried, but a flash of hot stinging pain made him stop pretty fast.

"Good job! You're doing it," his father encouraged him. "There's some movement, so you're not completely paralyzed. That's really good."

"You need to stop getting him to move Freedo," his mother spoke in a calm but firm voice. "He needs to rest."

"Y-yeah, you're right..." his father responded. There was a slight tremor in his voice. "I just wish there was something I could do for him."

"Take a few breaths," his mother said. She was the one holding his hand. She's been grasping it this whole time.

His father inhaled and slowly exhaled. He did this a few times.

"Ok... I think I'm calm enough to accept your life advice now love."

Laes could feel tears gathering in his eyes and blurring his vision.

He was on Vort. His parents were both alive. They were right here.

He'd never felt so relieved before. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders and even though there was a machine helping him breath right now he was pretty sure it had gotten a little easier.

He wished he had enough strength in his body to sit up and hug them both.

* * *

It was three days later before he was able to do that. He also didn't need the machine to help him breath anymore. With a bit of practice he might even be able to start walking again although Filik told him very plainly not to push himself too much unless he wanted to risk becoming paralyzed.

His parents stuck a pillow behind his back so he could sit up. He was having trouble keeping himself sitting on his own, though he suspected this was because the muscles and organs in his body weren't quite healed yet.

Sometimes he woke up screaming and clawing at his torso. The dreams of being impaled probably weren't going to go away anytime soon... but at least there were painkillers so he wasn't usually in constant pain.

His parents were always there to calm him down so it wasn't so bad.

"Hey you, are you almost ready to get out of bed and start helping us with the work?" Veena questioned. She'd spoken to him a few times since he first became conscious.

She had apologized too, but he wasn't sure why.

"You can't lay around forever."

"If you don't want him to lay around forever, then you have to let him heal properly now," Filik chimed in from where he was lying on the floor.

He was propping himself up with his elbows and resting his face on his hands as he read over a comic book he'd found somewhere... maybe in the section of the prison where personal items had been discarded?

"I uh... probably shouldn't push it... quite yet..." Laes responded before Veena could say something to the Irken. "But... in a couple days..." there wasn't enough air left in his lungs to finish his sentence.

"Well that device bolted into your spine is experimental," the navigator spoke, not bothering to look up as he flipped a page. "So I'd recommend being careful with it."

"Just how experimental is it?" Veena demanded.

The smaller Irken shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno. Like this is the first time we've ever bolted that device to anyone's spine kind of experimental," he answered. "The rumour is it's supposed to be an accelerated healing device. By sending a whole bunch of electrodes directly into the spine it should stimulate the central nervous system blah blah I tuned the rest of it out, but it should make healing faster and allow your friend to walk."

"Isn't that... kind of weird... for a pilot to know...?" Laes asked. It still hurt a little to breath, but nothing he was feeling right now was unbearable.

The Irken looked up from his magazine or whatever and frowned at him.

"I'm a navigator; a pilot is a whole other profession, and it's not that strange. The Tallest spend a lot of time in the control room you know, so I overhear all kinds of important things."

Filik smirked.

"But hey, you're not dead, so whatever experiment they're doing seems to be working for you. Congratulations."

He was an experiment...? Laes' eyes widened slightly, but he really should have known better. The Tallest wouldn't have let him go for no reason.

His mind was still about foggy about what happened. He remembered the horrible gut exploding pain. Then...

Hold on... Bann had been the Tallest... hadn't he?

What happened to him then?

He felt like he should remember.

Veena decided to leave just then. She probably had a lot of work to do, but she seemed to be worried about him sometimes, maybe. It was hard to tell.

Veena had a naturally strong and abrupt way of speaking, and she always wore a serious look on her figured she and Darden should get along well since they were pretty similar in some ways.

Once she was gone, he stared at Filik, wondering just who he was and why he was there. The Irken noticed and looked up from whatever he was reading.

"What is it?" the navigator asked. "Your father is sleeping down the hall and your mother is off somewhere getting food probably if that's what you're wondering."

"Are you Bann...?" Laes questioned him, though even as he spoke he wondered what he was thinking.

Filik wasn't acting like Bann at all... but then where did Bann go? The former guard couldn't still be inside the Tallest's PAK... could he?

"What?" the Irken's antennae flattened. "Bann? Me? No. Why would you think that?"

"Well... I mean..." Laes' eyes focused on his hand which was gripping the blanket.

"You're talking about the same Bann who's rumoured to have killed a bunch of soldiers right?" Filik questioned him with a scowl. "You need to have your eyes checked. Do I honestly look like a defective soldier to you?"

"No."

"Then why are you even asking me that? Wow."

"Sorry..."

The Irken's attention returned to whatever he was reading.

"Yeah well, just don't ask me anything ridiculous like that again and I might forget how dumb you are."


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's notes:** The title of this chapter also reflects my editing speed.

 **Slow Progress**

Once he could move his legs without feeling an intense amount of pain, he decided it was time to start trying to walk.

He pushed himself to the edge of his mattress and carefully lowered himself onto the floor.

At first his legs trembled and they didn't want to hold him up. He clung to the cot to keep himself from collapsing.

For some reason breathing was still difficult. He was already struggling for air and he hadn't even moved that much.

"Are you stuck or something?" Filik asked.

The Irken wasn't much of a wanderer. It seemed the navigator preferred to stay close by to read his magazines and ridicule whoever was nearby. He didn't help anyone. He was just sort of around.

The other Vortians ignored him for the most part. It was easier to do that than trying to make conversation with the guy.

"No... I'm..."

Talking and breathing wasn't easy, and moving wasn't making it easier. He stopped talking so he could take his time catching his breath.

"Well considering your lungs were shredded a bit I guess it's not that surprising," Filik admitted, sounding mostly disinterested. "If you could not vomit up blood while you're doing that, it would be swell. Thanks."

Oh Vort... why would Filik even say that...?

Laes squeezed his eye shut as he slowly pushed himself away from the cot. He could stand. He was standing. _Just don't think about blood or vomit... or shredded lungs..._

He didn't remember anything after that... but when he opened his eyes he was lying on his cot again with both of his parents hovering over him.

Apparently he'd fallen on his face, and this was why his face was hurting.

Darden, who'd been nearby, apparently came and scooped him off the floor.

After depositing him back on the mattress the former soldier left him in the care of his mother and father.

Darden wasn't around right now... it was kind of amazing how quickly all of the former Vortian prisoners accepted the Irken's presence.

The ex-soldier seemed to have calmed down a lot after they parted ways.

At least Laes hadn't overheard anyone complaining about being punched or kicked or anything like that, although Darden wasn't afraid project his voice when he thought someone was slacking off.

"That Irken fellow said he's going to be helping with the energy transmitters, so he won't be around for a little bit," his father told him.

Laes' attention returned to his father. How had the older Vortian survived inside the Irken's mind-machine for so long...?

His father's prison garb was a bit wrinkled, and he'd sometimes stretch his hands behind his back because of stiffness in his back and shoulders, but there was no real indication he'd been forced into a coma.

Maybe this was just another virtual simulation... why else would his father be standing here? Tears gathered in his eyes and he covered his face with his hands. There was no way this could be real.

"Is something wrong son?" his father's voice rose in concern. "Are you in pain? Do you need some pills?"

"Here Laes, I brought you something to eat," his mother offered.

She'd been bringing him that mushy gray tasteless mystery food the Irkens insisted on feeding them. Everything had to be rationed since there was only enough food for the next week or so...

"It's not grey-matter this time either," his father spoke in a humorous tone.

Laes swallowed a whimper. He shouldn't be crying... he didn't want them to worry...

"It's alright," his mother told him softly, and he felt her hand on his. "Your father and I aren't going anywhere. We'll stay with you until you're feeling better."

She was stroking his forehead now.

Normally he'd be embarrassed having his parents fretting over him so much, but right now he found it comforting. He was glad they were both here and that neither of them appeared to have been tortured too badly...

For some reason his father made the time he spent in the desert simulation sound like a vacation.

How could a scorching hot wasteland with killer sand-worms be considered a vacation? They enjoyed telling him that story though. Freedo had already repeated it at least a dozen times since he hadn't done very much else lately.

His mother started harvesting the spiky plant-life for food and water on the second day.

Neither of them had died in the 3 days they were in there although his father joked he probably would have gotten a virtual infection in his leg if they weren't extracted when they were.

He claimed he'd been so distracted chiseling out a cave with some make-shift tools he crafted, he forgot to treat it properly.

That's the way Freedo was though... sometimes he got so distracted he forgot to eat or sleep. It was a good thing he bonded with someone who was more vigilant and made sure he didn't keel over from dehydration or exhaustion.

There was someone else who was probably going to do that; someone who'd been avoiding him.

He was sure Lard Nar was likely blaming himself for his injuries even though it was obvious his own stupidity nearly got him killed by Irk's leader. It didn't seem to matter how many times he reminded himself about how dangerous and unpredictable Irkens were, when it really mattered he either forgot or ignored this life saving information.

No... that wasn't it. He felt bad for the Irkens, and a part of him really wanted to make their relationship with his people better.

After some coaxing from his mother he relented and ate some kind of packaged sweet bread she'd found in the dead guards' food supply. It was hard to believe that Buckram, Grumps, Angry-Shiela, Slappy, the second warden whose nickname he was forgetting, and all of the other Irken guards were either eaten or exploded into bits.

When he imagined them exploding into bits he couldn't eat anymore, so he decided to sleep for the rest of the day.

Maybe walking would be easier tomorrow... he doubted it, but he couldn't help hoping.

He really didn't want to be confined to this cot for much longer... he was starting to think about his sister, Juelee, and his niece again... sometimes he wondered how his parents were able to cope so well with their daughter and granddaughter's death since he'd never seen them cry about it.

–

"You really should talk to him."

Lard Nar froze for a moment when he heard the annoyed sounding voice behind him... he glanced over his shoulder and noted Darden standing close by with his arms crossed.

The Irken was watching him... the Irken was usually watching him.

He found this a bit unnerving. Perhaps Darden had changed his mind about helping them after all... maybe the former soldier was waiting for him to drop his guard before attacking him.

He exhaled, and after a few moments of holding whatever breath he had left, he breathed in.

"I don't want to bother him right now..." Lard Nar responded as he returned his attention to his work.

There were other Vortians working around him, but he hadn't made much of an effort to speak to them other than to ask what they were working on so he wouldn't repeat their work.

"He wouldn't see it that way."

Lard Nar glowered at the wires he was trying to rework.

"And when did you become an expert on how Laes thinks?" he snapped in anger. "You don't really care if he lives or dies do you?"

He didn't wait for the Irken's response before continuing, "if you did you would be over there making sure he doesn't collapse again."

Daren waited for a little while before responding in a very blunt manner, "his parents are there so the amount of assistance I can offer him is minimal, but I am not actively avoiding him either."

"The only thing I can do right now is help the other engineers finish building this thing..." Lard Nar insisted more strongly than the meant to. He added a little more quietly; "we don't know when the worms will return."

The former soldier shrugged. He appeared willing to let the topic drop, so it did.

..

A few days later they had the power generator that had been powering the prison back in full working order.

…

The next day most of the lighting in the cafeteria had been fixed and rewired to the power source so they wouldn't have trouble working at night anymore.

Then later that night, Veena and the group she was working with were able to get the computer system back online while a few people on the designs team worked on rebuilding some of the lesser destroyed this the communication networks were also brought back online.


	13. Chapter 13

**Contacting Him**

He'd been so busy working he'd almost forgotten about the guilt weighing on him. That was until he realized Laes was up and moving around on his own.

Despite having some difficulty with walking, his former cellmate seemed eager to access one of the working computers.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Lard Nar decided to approach Laes.

"I just need to use the computer for a couple minutes, please," Laes spoke even though his father appeared to be trying to get him to settle down.

The older Vortian was holding his son's shoulders, keeping him standing in place.

"Look son... contacting someone right now when you've just started walking is a little..." He paused for a moment and let out a small sigh before asking: "Do you know their Communication code? I can call them for you."

"He's called me so often I've memorized it," Laes responded, clutching his head with his hand while his bad arm was pressed against his mid-section. "I see it every time I close my eyes. And thanks, but I really need to be the one talking... please? I just need a couple minutes."

"Alright, sure," Laes' father easily relented, and he removed his hand from his son's shoulder. "Just don't overdue it ok? Your mother is really worried you know? We're really glad you're up walking around, but you just suddenly blurted out a whole bunch of things then sprung out of bed like it was on fire."

"Sorry... I've just been..." Laes dragged a hand down his face. He winced, and his good arm wrapped around his middle too."I've had a lot to think about... since I couldn't move for these past few days it's all I've been doing."

"How many times do I have to remind you about how horrible your injuries are?" Filik asked as he walked over to the two Vortians. "You need to calm down or you're going to end up wrecking yourself waaay beyond experimental repair."

"Well um... no one is really in charge of who can use the computers and who can't..." the confused looking Vortian with a clipboard who happened to be the one standing the closest to the devices responded. "But uh... how far away is this call your making? Because if it's outside of the galaxy it's not going to work... we haven't made an amplifier strong enough to boost the signal so..."

"It's... a lot galaxies away..." Laes remarked, deflating a little. "If we could use another Irken signal it would work..."

"Oh wow," Filik crossed his arms and his antennae flattened. "Really? You're just going to steal one of our signals right in front of my face?"

"No no," Laes sighed, and he carefully reached to rub his forehead. "Look um, this planet had Irken programs and signals and everything before the worms attacked. Some of them might not be working right now... but we're technically still conquered by the Irkens so... borrowing would be a better word."

"I could build an amplifier..." Lard Nar offered, gripping his arm and keeping his gaze lowered.

Laes glanced at him. "If I cant find a signal then I'll probably need you to do that."

"Fine, I won't complain," Filik decided, though he still sounded somewhat unhappy about it. "But before that... who are you trying to call?"

"Um..." Laes glanced to the side and managed an uneasy smile. "An acquaintance...?"

"You need to be a lot more specific," Filik insisted.

"He's uh... an old work buddy..."

"Is there a reason you're not using his name? Filik asked, squinting at Laes. "Do I know this guy or something?"

"Well... he was known to be... a little crazy maybe...?" Laes offered, and he let out a nervous chuckle.

The Vortian with the clipboard decided now would be a good time to start slowly backing away from them since he didn't appear to want to involve himself with whatever they were talking about.

Lard Nar lifted his eyes and stared for a moment at Laes. "You're not talking about... Laes, you can't be serious about calling him... he's... unstable."

His former cellmate and co-worker turned to look at him. He felt the guilt settle in his chest. His mouth felt dry. He couldn't swallow.

All he wanted to do was keep apologizing for getting Laes involved in this mess..

"I wasn't just impaled when I was on the Massive," Laes told him, wrapping both arms firmly around his mid-section again. "I also learned something... but I need to talk to Zim to see if its true or not."

"Did he say "him" or "Zim?" Filik asked, looking at Laes' father for the answer.

"Don't you remember the first wormish thing we ever saw?" Laes questioned, sounding hopeful. "Who was the guy who said he made it?"

"Zim..." Lard Nar answered, but he still found it hard to believe that the Irken defect could be useful in any kind of situation... especially a life or death situation.

"Ok, that time I heard his name," Filik commented, flicking one of his antennae forward. "You know getting involved with that Irken defective is stupid right?"

Laes slowly lowered his arms back down to his sides... he looked like he was trying to appear more confident about what he was saying.

"This is going to sound crazy... but if what I heard is true, Zim might be operating off of two programs... one that's Irken and one that isn't. If I'm right, one of the programs is from an advanced race of people that are older than both Irkens and Vortians."

"He's just defective," Filik insisted. The navigator was glaring at him.

Zim was probably the worst thing that happened to the Empire lately... so talking about him was likely not any Irkens' favourite activity.

"But where did his defectiveness come from?"

Filik hesitated. No Irken ever wanted to admit there might be something wrong with the Empire, never mind the ones in control of it: the Control Brains.

"You've probably never thought about it right? So is it really so crazy to think that defective program might have come from a race of people who were so advanced they could have made the Control Brains, your PAKs, and maybe even somehow Vortians?"

"This epiphany of yours is really something, but how did you learn all of this? And if it's true, how is talking to your friend Zim going to help?" Freedo asked.

"It sounds like your head was damaged in the confrontation you had with my Tallest," Filik remarked, slowly shaking his head. "That's really too bad. I was maybe kind of starting to tolerate you."

"Bandeval told me some of it... because he was defective... and well... the Tallest told me more about it because he was wondering why defectiveness was becoming a thing, so he looked into it," Laes responded, and he touched the place where the large scar was under his shirt. "And um... I guess he decided he didn't actually want me to know after he told me... because apparently Irken defectiveness can be triggered by... well... us..."

Laes closed his eyes and gripped his head with one hand while his other arm wove its way around his middle again.

"I... I know it's a lot to think about... I've already had days to think about it and it still sounds crazy to me... but I couldn't just not say anything about it... not when there is a problem that can potentially be fixed."

Filik pulled down his neckband and smiled. His postured had changed. He looked more relaxed now.

"Yes. It does sound crazy doesn't it? I thought so too when I first read about it."

Laes eyes opened when he turned to the Irken technician surprised.

"You've heard about it too Filik?"

"Nope. I'm the one who told you about it, remember?"

"You told me...?" Laes repeated in confusion. Then his expression lightened, and his hand lowered. "Oh. So you were in there. I thought you might still be inside the Tallest's PAK after what you said but..."

"Well, I didn't want to take complete control over this one since now I have to fight to stay in control, but I figured I could speak up for a bit. Filik might freak out afterwards though, so you might want to prepare for that."

Lard Nar looked from Laes to Filik. Suddenly they were talking like they were old friends... but then the Irken had been hanging around Laes' cot a lot when Laes was bedridden. Maybe they'd struck up some kind of mutual ok-ness with each other then?

Still, Filik was talking about himself in third person. The only other Irken who did that was Zim.

"Lard Nar," Laes spoke as he grasped his wrist.

Their faces were inches apart, so Lard Nar recoiled as much as he could while still being held on to.

"We um... haven't really talked much lately and I totally abandoned you and the Resisty so I could work my way back to Vort and get locked up all over again, so I know you're probably pretty disappointed with me... but I'm serious about this..."

He sucked in a breath.

"I know it's stupid and selfish to ask for your help when it has something to do with Irkens when they killed your whole family ...I can't even imagine how painful that is... so I totally understand if you want to ignore everything I say and keep hating them because their goals lately have been really bad..."

He paused for a moment, giving Lard Nar some time to catch up before continuing.

"But there are non-combative Irkens too... you probably saw some on Foodcourtia right? They aren't evil. They were just living their lives like anyone else... and it made me realize... you know the bad guys are always going to be the other guys. For us it's the Irkens. For the Irkens it's us, but I don't think it has to be that way. So, um... yeah sorry. That's all I wanted to say."

He let go of Lard Nar's hand, and the former leader of the Resisty rubbed his wrist and took an uneasy step back.

His former cellmate had displayed a whole lot of emotion, and now he was struggling to figure out what he should do...

He hated Irkens. They killed his family. Everyone he loved and cared about was gone because of them.

He glanced over his shoulder at Darden.

Although he couldn't say he hated all of them... not anymore.

Then suddenly it was like Laes' legs stopped working, and the pink-skinned Vortian collapsed face-first onto the cracked and broken floor.

Filik folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head back a bit.

"Didn't I tell you you'd wreck something if you didn't calm down? Vortians must have some kind of listening problem or something."

"That's not funny Bann," Laes groaned as he propped himself up with his good arm. "You're just being creepy on purpose..."

The Irken technician laughed. "Ok ok," he extended his hand to Laes. "I thought my impression of Filik was pretty good though."

"Of course it is... you have his voice."

"So you have a split personality then?" Freedo guessed, pointing at Filik.

"You could call it that," Filik responded, taking Laes by his bad arm and pulling him back to his feet. Then he placed the Vortian's arm over his shoulder to keep him steady. "I'm another program inhabiting this Irken's PAK, but my presence here is temporary so it probably won't cause any lasting side-effects."

"You don't sound very confident about that," Laes commented.

"Well the first person I tried it on isn't here so I haven't been able to ask him if there were any lingering problems or not."

"And you?"

"Me?" Filik pointed at himself. "I should be dead, so I think I'm doing pretty good considering that."

"Laes..." Lard Nar finally decided to speak up. "I... I need to think about all of this."

"Yes, yeah... that's fine... I um, needed to think about it for a while too before I decided anything," Laes admitted with a small smile. "Sorry for springing this on you all of a sudden."

He turned to his father.

"You don't need to ask us son," Laes' father responded before he could say anything. "You know your mother and I will always support you one hundred percent."

"Unless it's murder," Laes' mother responded as she approached them. She reached for her partner's hand and stood close to him.

"Personally I'm ok with it if it's murder in self-defence," Freedo admitted.

"As long as we don't need to have another talk about what counts as self-defence and what doesn't."

Lard Nar felt he needed to walk away.

What was all of that...? Was Bann really Filik?

He felt his chest tighten, and he gripped it as he turned into the hallway. He pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes, slowing his breath.

He heard boot-steps. They stopped in front of him.

"Are you feeling ok?" Darden's concerned voice sounded very close.

Lard Nar's eyes snapped open, and he looked up at the Irken. His hands were shaking. He wanted to find a quiet place to lie down for a while, but working on the energy barrier was more important.

"Darden..." he crouched down and wrapped his arms around his legs. "What would you do if I killed one of the Tallest?"

The former soldier raised an invisible brow. "I doubt that would be possible."

"But if it was possible?"

The Irken didn't respond right away. He was probably giving the question some thought. Then he spoke: "I would kill you in return."

Of course... that had been a stupid question to ask.

"But then, I think I would also restrain my Tallest if he tried to kill you," Darden admitted sounding uncertain. "However..." his tone lowered. "After either scenario there wouldn't be reason for me to live afterwards."

"What about Laes?" he asked. "Isn't it your mission to protect him?"

"My mission is to protect him until I can find someplace safe for him to be, and once this barrier has been activated, I believe my mission will finally be complete."

"Then..." he hugged his legs closer to his body. "What will you do after we finish the barrier?"

"I'm not used to having choices... but as I can no longer self-destruct as I've been ordered to do, I'll let you decide."

"Me?" Lard Nar questioned, surprised. "But... why me?"

"Because you earned my respect," Darden answered. "There's no other reason..." he stooped down and offered him his hand. "I will stay by your side for now, so stand."

Lard Nar hesitated, but he did end up accepting the Irken's hand.


	14. Chapter 14

**Family Ties**

Maybe he was a bit quick to share all of the Irken's secret information, although he hadn't really given anyone details about the Invaders.

Maybe he should... but he wanted to wait until after having a talk with Zim first.

The Irken was considered defective for a few things: namely disobeying the Tallest, ignoring his programming, destroying Irk's capital city, and killing a bunch of Irken invaders...

He overheard the guards talking about all of this shortly after Vort was conquered.

Gashloog mentioned something about it briefly before he died too.

Zim was very destructive, and he was considered a pain and a fool by his own people.

The Irken wasn't a fool though... while he was destructive, he was also clever in a bizarre way.

Sure a lot of the things he made looked odd or didn't function the way others thought the devices should, but usually his inventions, no matter how strange or absurd, ended up working somehow.

Zim normally talked about himself in third person, boldly stating "I am Zim" and praising himself for his intellect or amazingness. He always looked down on everyone else, even other Irkens. Even taller Irkens.

Also he had no reservations about experimenting on living creatures whether they were sentient or not...

It was possible that Zim's superiority complex and desire to preform insane experiments stemmed from the Invaders' programming. It might also explain why when he was reprogrammed and banished to Foodcourtia (that was something he was able to hack off of an Irken website) Zim kept his "invader" title.

If he actually thought of himself as an Invader and not an invader, it wouldn't matter how many times the Control Brains changed his programming.

The Tallest also mentioned quite a while ago that Zim had been put on Trial for all of these crimes, and that resulted in the Control Brains going crazy, which wasn't a normal reaction probably... at least no one had ever heard of the Control Brains malfunctioning before...

Not that the Irkens would be entirely honest about that sort of thing.

At least he could move around now, although every once and a while his legs would lose feeling and he'd have to stay still or risk collapsing.

Bann said this was likely temporary and the device implanted in his spine would need to get used to his movements or something.

Bann wasn't an engineer, and this device didn't sound like something the Irken engineers put a lot of time or effort into, most likely because Irkens would never need it...

They probably wanted to use it for the slaves they accidentally or purposefully maimed so the crippled ones could keep working like normal.

He was pretty sure Irkens exterminated "useless" creatures like that, so them creating something that would result in not killing people was a pretty big step forward really, but then he thought maybe the reason they decided to invest in this device was because they were maiming their slaves too much...

That was a frightening thing to think about... he needed to stop thinking about it.

"Hey son?" his father's hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he glanced up from the amplifier he was working on.

Lard Nar hadn't returned, so he'd started working on it instead.

He knew his former cellmate had been avoiding him before, and he really hoped he hadn't made things worse, but this was something he really wanted to do.

"Yes?" he responded. "What is it?"

"Your mother and I have been talking and well..." his father withdrew his hand and rubbed his cheek. "I think it's time you learned about..." he paused for a few seconds and looked up at the cracked and crumbling ceiling above. "I used to be in a gang way back when."

Laes blinked at him. "Um..." well that was... news.

His good-natured, optimistic, caring father who always made a point about how important it was to have honest work used to be in a gang?

"Ok..."

"Yeah, I ran with the Bloodglitz back before you were born," Freedo's attention left the ceiling, and he rubbed the back of his head when his eyes met Laes'. "I just didn't want either of us to die without you knowing about that, and considering we've both almost died recently, I figured now would be a good time to tell you."

"That's... well... that's ok dad... I mean it's surprising, but that was a long time ago already."

"I just don't want you to feel trapped by the confines of whatever is left of our society, you know, just in case you wanted to join that rebel group," his father gave him a half-smile. "Everyone needs to make their own choices in life... and even though I'll be very worried if you get involved with violence, or smuggling illegal substances, I won't physically restrain you if that's what you choose to do with your life."

"I'm ok... really... I've never been interested in... well... that..." Laes responded, and his father breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great! Your mom will be happy to hear that," he replied patting his son on the shoulder. "But if you ever change your mind, you can always come to me for advice on how to not die so quickly, because I have a lot of experiences with getting stabbed and shot so I can tell you what to look out for."

"Ok... but I really don't think I will," Laes told him honestly.

He wasn't cut-out to be a rebel. His brief but painful travels had taught him that much.

His father took a step back and seemed almost ready to leave.

"So that guy, Lard Nar, is he the one who introduced you to the rebels?"

"Yeah, well, I mean he was their leader for a while so..."

"Really?" Freedo's eyes seemed to light up with his information. "I kind of thought the missing fingers and the eye thing was probably due to gang related violence, but engineering can also cause those injuries, so I didn't want to outright ask him if he belonged to a gang because your mother would scold me again."

"Those injuries were caused by the Irkens... they also killed his whole family."

"Wow. That's awful," his father said, shaking his head slowly from side to side. "Poor guy." He frowned thoughtfully and rubbed his chin.

"Hold on... his family weren't members of the Protection Force were they?"

"Um... yeah... he was the only engineer in his family I think..." Laes answered.

Where was his father going with this...? ...Did he want to know where his father was going with this?

"Oh boy..."

Laes squinted an eye at him. "What is it..?"

Freedo raised his hands and managed a smile. "He looks a lot like an older guy I might have stabbed once... and maybe brawled with a few times." He added: "the Bloodglitz were at odds with the law, so we often fought with the Protection Force."

"Why was your gang called Bloodglitz?" Laes asked since it seemed his father wanted to talk about his dark secret past right now. The name kind of sounded like "buglettes."

"Because our boss liked creating "works of art" from the blood of his enemies in the street and along the sides of tall buildings," his father answered without missing a beat. "He'd drink it and dye his clothes with it too."

Freedo paused for a moment and tapped his chin.

"He was a pretty gross guy now that I think about it."

Laes felt the color drain from his face. "Yeah... that's really gross," he agreed before shifting his attention back to the amplifier. "I'm uh... going to continue working on this now..."

"Yeah, I guess I better get back to work too," his father decided even though it didn't look like he was going to rejoin the group he'd been working with that morning.

Instead he joined a completely different group: the one Lard Nar seemed to be assisting.

The former leader of the Resisty didn't seem interested in helping him contact Zim, but that was ok. Lard Nar had been through a lot of really painful things.

Asking him to help was selfish, and also kind of pushy, and he was beginning to wonder if he should have asked him at all.

* * *

"Hey, Lard Nar?" Freedo asked the only Vortian who wasn't dressed in green prison attire.

The startled fellow turned to him with widened eyes that looked him up and down before settling on his face.

"Yes..?" the other Vortian responded, gripping his wrench tightly and drawing it to his chest. "Do you need help with something...?"

"Actually I was hoping I could help out over here for a bit," Freedo admitted with a smile.

"You can ask Shaddi," Lard Nar responded, gesturing to the Vortian with the tawny-brown skin color and curvy grey horns. "He's the team leader..."

Lard Nar's voice had no energy, yet his body was tense as though he was expecting he'd need to react somehow.

This was pretty common for gang members. They could never really be relaxed.

Freedo glanced at Darden who was watching them.

The Irken was usually hanging around Lard Nar for some reason, but he decided not to ask any questions about it.

"Alright, but maybe we could talk for a bit first?" Freedo suggested.

He thought he'd just start working and casually bring up the next point of conversation sometime, but he was beginning to realize that talking about his former gang membership in public probably wouldn't be the best idea.

He pointed down a dark and very broken looking hallway.

The ceiling closest to them hadn't split apart yet, but the large cracks it had didn't make it seem like the most reliable ceiling anymore. There was only a few gaps where a bit of light was able to poke through, but it was definitely darker than the cafeteria since not only was there more sunlight able to get in there, one of the other teams managed to get some of the lights in the cafeteria working.

Lard Nar looked where he was pointing before returning his attention to him. The other Vortian's gaze didn't meet his.

"I understand..." Lard Nar replied, sounding tired.

He looked tired too despite being tense. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his movements weren't very quick.

The tool he was holding dropped to the floor before he obediently began walking into the dark passageway. He turned back and motioned to Darden who'd started to follow to stay where he was.

Freedo trailed along behind him until they were further down the hallway, away from the noise of the cafeteria.

The other Vortian kept his back to him for a while as he gripped one of his arms to his chest.

"I'm sorry for getting Laes involved..." Lard Nar began in a quiet voice.

There was only a bit of light here, but it was enough to see. Freedo was looking around at the damaged walls and broken ceiling. There was a spot further down the hall where a large section seemed to have caved in.

"It's my fault he was tortured and ended up losing his hand..."

Lard Nar continued after pausing briefly.

"It's also my fault he was taken from Vort and nearly died several times... so whatever you want to do to me..."

"Do to you?" Freedo repeated in surprise. "I didn't ask you to come here so I could stab you or something."

He looked around again at the dark isolated hallway.

"But you're right. This place would be a good spot for that kind of thing. Anyway, I just wanted to talk about your family for a minute if that's ok."

"They're dead..." Lard Nar responded with very little feeling behind his words.

"Were they a part of Vort's protection unit when they were alive?" Freedo questioned undetoured for the moment.

"Yes."

"Was your father's name Gan Jue?"

Silence followed.

"Your brother was Nam Tok right?" Freedo tried when Lard Nar didn't reply.

"H-how do you know their names...?" Lard Nar asked; his voice a weak whisper. "Everyone who knew them... they're dead..."

Freedo took a step closer.

Lard Nar's shoulders were trembling. The other Vortian still hadn't turned to look at him at all.

"A long while ago I belonged to the Bloodglitz gang," he admitted, and he wasn't surprised at all when Lard Nar spun around to face him.

The other Vortian quickly pressed himself against the wall and raised his hands defensively.

"Hold on, look," Freedo spoke, holding up his hands to show Lard Nar he wasn't carrying a weapon. "I'm not going to stab you, I promise. I just want a chance to explain the long and complicated relationship I had with your father."

Lard Nar nodded quickly in response.

"Well great," Freedo smiled and he sat down in the middle of the hallway since Lard Nar was still watching him warily and didn't seem willing to move away from the wall. He figured sitting would be less threatening than standing.

"So I'm guessing based on your reaction just now that your father probably talked about his work a bit. He was really good at what he did. I escaped arrest several times, but your father was always able to track me down. We had some pretty good brawls, I'm not going to lie about it, and there was one time I was so fed up with him I stabbed him in the leg and ran off."

He chuckled and shook his head.

"I was such an angry and aggressive person back then."

"He never mentioned your name..." Lard Nar quietly admitted.

"Yeah, and I never mentioned his either," Freedo responded, pointing up at the ceiling, though he quickly dropped his hand back down.

"We couldn't really back then. I mean if the other members found out the name of the guy who kept putting me in prison... but there was his one time I was so fed up with the guy, I was going to totally drop his name to the boss since I was very angry and petty.

First I decided to stalk him to see if I could ambush him myself, and I found out he had a life partner and a couple Vortlings!"

His expression fell as he lowered his hand and shook his head.

"In that scenario, with the boss being the way he was, if I mentioned his name he'd be roasted alive. Literally. And his whole family would probably be cut-up or something equally disturbing.. So I left everything alone. I guess he never mentioned my name either since doing so would implicate him in my arrests, and the worst case scenario for that would still be pretty disgusting."

He smiled again.

"But then I started getting close to Felara who wanted nothing to do with gangs or the gang lifestyle. If you meet the right woman and she says "no gangs" well, I quit anyway. The boss wasn't happy but your father helped me make a clean break. We had drinks a couple times after that, but since I was forced to relocate and change my identity, and my whole life really, I lost touch with him."

Freedo stretched his arms behind his back.

"Anyway, your father was a great guy. I met your brother once too. He looked a lot like him, but yeah. Your dad could have tacked on extra charges every time I resisted arrest."

He leaned forward and rested his head against his hand.

"I could have done a lot more time for stabbing him too, but instead he kept telling me to think about where I wanted my life to go. He actually asked me where I saw myself in five years, or ten years, and if being more involved in the gang was really a good idea."

"Why did you join them?" Lard Nar questioned, and he slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

"I made a few very poor life choices, although having a rocky home life probably didn't help," Freedo responded shrugging. "After I bonded with Felara I decided I was going to become a steady worker and an upstanding citizen for her sake, and for the sake of the family I realized I wanted. A few years later Laes was born and I vigorously buried my past.

I actually never told him I was involved with the Bloodglitz until a few minutes ago."

"He must have been surprised..."

"I think he was a bit shocked, but he handled it well. Laes can be a bit spacey and socially awkward at times, but he's never been overly harsh or judgmental," Freedo admitted, rubbing the back of his head ruefully as he laughed.

Then he scootched a bit closer to Lard Nar. He figured the other Vortian was probably relaxed enough now for him to approach although he decided to remain sitting just in case.

"That's the way Felara and I raised him, but everyone is free to make their own choices in life. We lucked out having two great children who were both hard working." He sighed. "I just wish they hadn't become independent so quickly... I kind of miss them happily rushing me after I came home from work and eating dinner together as a family. It's always the little stuff you miss the most right?"

Lard Nar nodded and bit his lip.

There were tears in his eyes.

He lowered his head and curled closer to himself.

Freedo edged as close as he could without touching Lard Nar.

"Can I give you a hug?" He asked, and when Lard Nar nodded, he didn't hesitate placing his arm over the other Vortian's shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

"I'm always trying to be positive about things, so when my daughter and granddaughter died I never really grieved over them. I just kept telling myself they're still here, just not in the way I want them to be," Freedo admitted. "But to be honest I'm kind of tired of losing: people, places, things I used to do in my spare time, even spare time... we've all lost something during the invasion."

He pulled away from Lard Nar to look him in the eyes.

"But right now I feel like I gained something, don't you?"

"But I..."

"You're the son of the guy who saved my life," Freedo remarked, patting him on the shoulder. "That means you're family to me, and there's nothing you can say that'll change my mind about it."

He stood up and reached his hand out to Lard Nar.

"Laes will complain about me being too pushy, but I'm sure he'll agree too. Eventually. Once I explain the situation better probably."

"I don't deserve this..." Lard Nar murmured, turning away. "Not after I nearly got Laes killed... it's my fault..."

"You're not the one who hurt my son," Freedo insisted.

He hadn't expected Lard Nar to be this stubborn, but then again Gan Jue had been stubborn as well.

"And even if you were, I don't hold grudges. Helk, I used to play cards with the guy who stabbed me, even after he stabbed me."

"I can't accept... I'm sorry..."

Freedo straightened up and lowered his hand.

"Alright, but the invitation is always open. Also, I'll probably be joining your work crew, so yeah. Let's work together to help protect whatever is left of our planet."

Lard Nar looked up at him and managed a small smile.

"Yeah... let's do that."

* * *

 **Notes:** This could've also been named "Freedo's Backstory." Who knew the guy had such an interesting life? Not his son, that's for sure.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes:** I just found out I have to go back to school, and I'm not going to be quitting my jobs so life is about to get busy. Until then, I will continue to update semi-regularly hopefully.

* * *

 **The Cure for Space Worms**

It took half the day for him to finish the amplifier and reset the settings on the computer to link with it.

With the boosted signal he was able to locate an Irken signal which could find and connect to invaders' bases. Once this was done he typed in the communication code and waited, hoping that the Irken hadn't decided to change his CC since the last time they spoke.

"You're sure you want to talk to him?" Bann asked, peering over his shoulder at the monitor.

The former guard still had control over Filik's body which was definitely smaller than his original body had been.

"Yes, I'm sure," Laes responded just as the screen started to flicker.

Someone had answered the call, but they weren't standing in front of the screen. There was a whole bunch of twisted wires and what appeared to be broken technology.

"Why did you let it out of its containment chamber!?" a very familiar voice shouted from somewhere off screen.

"It's all wrinkly like a grandpa!"

"That's the worst excuse I ever heard GIR! I don't know why I put up with your stupid stupidity!"

There was a brief pause and Zim's voice finally lowered enough to actually listen to without getting a headache.

"No really, why do I do that?" the Irken questioned.

"I dunno!"

Then a metallic face appeared looking into the monitor. It had glowing cyan blue eyes... this robot sometimes appeared on the screen during calls...

It was a SIR unit... at least he was fairly sure it was. Only a few Vortians had been involved in that project, but he was pretty certain it wasn't supposed to be acting the way it did.

Problems with the first prototypes weren't exactly uncommon for any of their projects.

"Hello!" the robot waved happily.

"Gir! Don't ignore me when I'm yelling at you!"

The robot turned to look in the direction the voice was coming from.

"I'm saying hi to your little pink friend!"

"Zim has no little pink friend!"

"Yeah you do! And there's a green one! He looks like you! Lookatit!"

"I DO NOT HAVE FRIENDS! Now get over here and help me contain this horrible beast before it chews my legs off!"

"HEEEHEEHEE!"

"This is not funny Gir! This is pain!"

"Sorry Pinky, I gotta go find the baseball bat byye!" the robot reached for one of the buttons, probably intending to turn off the monitor.

Instead there was a large roar and something red and scaly smashed the robot rather into the screen rather violently, causing the call to disconnect.

Laes stared wide eyed at the monitor before glancing over his shoulder at Bann who hadn't moved from where he was.

They looked at each other then looked back at the dark screen.

"Well... that went better than I expected," the Irken impostor remarked. "Nothing exploded anyway."

"Why...?" Laes mumbled, burying his face in his hand. "Why can't he answer a call and talk normally for just a couple of minutes?"

He was becoming increasingly aware that the loud noises and yelling had pretty much alerted every Vortian in the room.

Some of them had gotten closer so they could gawk at him and the monitor. Others were watching from a distance, and a few were still trying to work but they were obviously disturbed by the commotion.

"Maybe you caught him at a bad time," Bann reasoned with a shrug. There was definitely some sarcasm in his voice, and he was smirking a bit.

"What was that thing?" Laes questioned, gesturing at the monitor even though there was no video feed right now.

Bann raised an invisible brow.

"That was a SIR unit."

"No, I mean yes I know that, but the other thing," Laes tried to specify, and he waved his hand a little even though there was nothing to indicate on the monitor right now.

"It looked like a Hogulus," Bann replied with a frown. "Though I've never heard of any red ones and they're not supposed to have scales."

Laes sighed and sank a little in his chair. "I guess I'll try calling back in a few hours."

He reached for the volume dial and turned it down. He paused for a second before turning it down even more.

A few hours later he typed in Zim's code again.

Bann assured him Irken bases had many monitors both on the surface building and in the lower levels. Even if a few of them were destroyed by a rampaging monster there would be others that could receive the transmission.

Fortunately Zim answered this time.

One of the small Irken's antennae was bent at an odd angle, his face was covered in bruises, and his clothing was ripped and dirty.

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked, and then seeing Laes on the monitor his eyes narrowed. "You! Vort-thing! You haven't been answering my calls! Remember our deal!? I call! You give me things! That was the deal!"

Even though the speakers were on the lowest possible setting Zim's voice was still loud.

"Yeah um... sorry about that," Laes apologized. "But I really need to ask you..."

"Eh? What are you saying?" Zim had already moved off screen.

It sounded like he was welding something together.

"Do you remember the energy absorbing thing you made?" Laes asked him, raising his voice over the sawing and flame sounds.

"Uh huh, that's fascinating. You keep doing that."

Laes smacked himself in the forehead and dragged his hand down his face. Zim's attention span was always really bad when he was bored or uninterested in something...

"ZIM!" Bann snapped in a loud and angry sounding voice. "That horrible creature you made on Vort Lab 9 was a horrible mutation from those horrible space worms wasn't it!?"

He sounded very accusing, but this seemed to peek the smaller Irken's interest.

"Yes it was!" Zim responded right away. "I took one of their disgusting offspring and altered its insides so it craved the sweet energy goo!"

"How did you keep it from eating you?" Laes questioned him quickly, before his attention could wander again hopefully.

"HA!" Zim laughed and suddenly he reappeared on the screen. "You want information from me, Zim!? Why should I tell YOU anything!?"

"Just answer the question!" Bann insisted. Both of his antennae flicked forward and he balled his hands into fists.

"I only answer to the Tallest!" Zim stated, glaring at the other Irken. "You could be a spy!"

One of his eyes narrowed and he jumped back and pointed at Bann.

"Zim will not answer any more of your spy questions spy!"

Bann rubbed his temples. "Oh for the love of the Empire..."

"Look... Zim... we um... the Tallest are in trouble..." Laes told him.

Even though it seemed like Zim responded better to yelling, he still couldn't make himself do it.

Fortunately mentioning the Tallest seemed to keep Zim focused enough to continue their conversation.

"Hmm, well I haven't been able to contact the Massive in a while," Zim admitted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His eyes narrowed. "What kind of trouble are they in?"

"This whole galaxy is being overrun by space worms," Laes admitted, hoping beyond hope Zim would offer some insight into this. "It's gotten so bad the Armada had to withdraw from Vort."

What else would Zim care about...? Weapons probably.

"And now we can't even make doomsday weapons!" He added, gesturing with his hand-less arm.

"HAA! I am amazing! Soon the whole galaxy will bow to the mighty forces of my ravenous squirming worms of doom!" Zim remarked before cackling evilly and tapping his fingers together.

He stopped doing this and blinked.

"I mean wooww, that sounds bad."

Laes' chest felt heavy. His words almost got lodged in his throat but he managed to speak.

"You didn't have anything to do with the sudden influx of space worms... did you...?"

"Of course not!" Zim waved his words away. "Don't be silly!"

"Ok.. but... you know about the Invaders right? The ones from before..."

"Zim is an Invader!" he announced. "I am the greatest Irken to ever live!" He grinned. "That's why I released a few more worms out of their holding cells on a decimated planet that seemed oddly familiar for some reason!"

He jumped up on something... maybe to add more emphasis to his words or something like that...

"They know who their master is! They wouldn't dare feast upon Zim!"

That made no sense... but he was used to Zim not making any sense. The head scientist on Vort Lab 9, had a difficult time understanding Zim, and she was one of Vort's top scientists.

In any case... it was clear the increase in worms was caused by him.

Of course it was. Zim only ever caused chaos and destruction... it was the reason he was sent to Vort in the first place.

"Do you know how to kill them, or at least make them leave?" Laes asked, trying not to get his hopes up too much.

If Zim really was operating from the Invader programming instead of the Irken one then killing Irkens and anything else wouldn't impact him at all.

In fact, the Invader program sounded like it was set against the Irken one... which meant Zim's violent and unpredictable tendencies would lead him to wanting to destroy the 'false' Empire and its 'false' people.

Zim was also proud of his Irken heritage though, so maybe he was operating from both programs simultaneously. If so then he would genuinely be concerned about the Tallest since they had taken the place of the Irken's Invader overlords... but since he saw himself as an Invader overlord himself, he would be most concerned with himself probably.

Laes imagined Zim would see other Irkens as fodder with the Tallest being the only exception. Maybe. Hopefully. There had to be something Zim cared about.

"Nice try Vortian! If you gain control of the worms, you'll have an entire worm army at your disposal!" Zim remarked, glaring at Laes suspiciously. "If you want my help destroying them, then you will have the Tallest contact me!"

The transmission ended and Laes sank in his seat, suddenly feeling very tired. Talking to Zim usually required a large amount of patience.

Rubbing one of his eyes, he sat back up.

"Ok... at least that went better than the first time," he said, glancing at Bann.

The navigator imposter was scowling, and his antennae were flattened against his head.

"For some reason his voice really grates on my nerves..." Bann admitted.

"Yeah... my headache usually goes away in an hour," Laes replied, rubbing his temples.

At least his stab-wound wasn't hurting very much. He thought he was mentally blocking out the pain, but now he wasn't so sure.

Did someone slip him some drugs or something? He'd have to think about that later.

"So... what's the Tallest number?"

"You are not talking to the guy that almost stabbed you to death," Bann insisted, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"He can't stab me to death if I'm talking to him through a monitor," Laes reasoned, giving the former guard an uneasy half-smile.

Bann heaved a sigh. "Laes... I left the Armada fighting the worms, and even if they escaped that, do you really think they're going to be answering calls right now?"

"If you have their number Bann-"

"I'll call them," Bann interrupted him, and he turned away as his PAK whirred open. He grabbed his communicator and began punching in the code. "Don't say anything. Let me do all of the talking."

"Yes fine," Laes responded, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "Whatever you say sweetie."

Bann scowled at him and motioned for him to be quiet.

There was no answer, although Bann was sneaky so he might have punched in the wrong number: one he knew wouldn't work.

"Did you actually try contacting the Massive, or are you just pretending to call them so I'll stop asking?" Laes questioned him.

"What?" Bann placed a hand to his chest and tried to look aghast. "You don't trust me? After everything I've done for you?"

"I never asked you to kill for me," Laes stated; his voice flat as he stared deadpan at the Irken.

"True, but you never asked me to not kill for you either."

Laes frowned at him.

"I'm pretty sure I did. Also, did you give me any drugs recently?"

Bann glanced away from him and hummed under his breath.

"I may have injected you with some drugs while you were unconscious," he admitted after a little while.

"What?" Laes questioned in surprise, and he began looking over his arms. "Where?"

"Directly into your spine..." Bann responded with a smirk. "I'm surprised you didn't feel anything."

"Oh my galre Bann..." Laes remarked, covering his face with his hand as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk. "You don't just inject people with things while they're sleeping!"

"It was medicine," Bann responded, sounding somewhat confused. "And it's obviously working."

"That's not the point!" Laes insisted in a strong tone. "You need to tell me these things before you do them!"

He swung around to face the Irken without falling out of his chair, although he did lose his balance for a moment. Plus this sudden action did cause some pain, so he winced and pressed his good arm against his healing injury.

The navigator imposter raised in hands in self-defence.

"Ok, I won't secretly give you pain-nummbers anymore... I just thought it would work better if it was injected into your body, but you're squeamish, and you were impaled recently, so I thought it would be better if you didn't know."

"I know you were trying to do the right thing," Laes replied, sighing.

He relaxed a bit since he was still feeling tired after talking to Zim and he really didn't want to keep arguing about this. Besides, the medicine only dulled the pain, and getting upset really wasn't helping with that.

"But you need to tell people before you do something that will directly do stuff to them... and even if you're trying to be helpful but you're not sure how the other person is going to feel about it, you need to ask them first."

"I don't think I have the coding for that," Bann admitted shrugging.

Laes wagged a finger at him. "Then remember it with your head."

"That's impossible."

"Just try Bann, please?"

Bann rolled his eyes. "Yes mother."

Oh, so Bann was going to play that game was he?

Laes couldn't hide his smile.

"Don't roll your eyes at me while I'm trying to give you some good life advice mister."

"How long are you going to sit in that chair?" Bann suddenly asked, his tone changing as he looked him up and down, trying to find if there was anything wrong.

Laes leaned back and looked up at the crumbling ceiling. This place really was a wreck now.

His gaze lowered to the floor. The floors that had been so abnormally clean all of the time were now scuffed, dirty, and broken apart.

Slappy would have had a heart-attack if he was still alive.

"Well... um... actually... I can't feel my legs at all," he admitted.

This was probably because of the drugs he'd been injected with.

He was sure if he tried to stand up right now he's end up falling on his face. The rest of him was starting to feel heavy... if he fell right now he probably wouldn't get up for a while.

"Then I'll bring you back to your cot," Bann insisted, stepping closer as he reached for Laes.

Laes recoiled and held his hand up to stop him. "No no, you're not carrying me."

Bann's hands lowered, and one of his antennae twitched."Don't be stubborn about this Laes."

"You're barely taller than me right now, plus I'm sitting in a chair," he insisted. "With just a few quick modifications I can make this chair into something I can move by myself, and I'd rather do that than go back to my cot and think again... I just... I need a break from thinking... please?"

Bann sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine... tell me what you need."

"Paper and some kind of writing utensil," Laes responded with a smile.

It was a relief to be away from his cot. He really didn't want to end up immobile again since thinking about their situation with the Irkens was too tiring and remembering his dead family members and Juelee was very emotionally draining.

"I'll make you a list."

"I thought you said "quick modifications," Bann remarked.

"Yes, but I'll need over a dozen materials so it would be better to make a list."

"Quick modifications," Bann repeated, raising an invisible brow.

"Yes, with a list of materials," Laes responded in confusion. "Once I have what I need it will take me maybe 30 minutes to fix this chair." He squinted and eye at the Irken. "I'm only this slow because I don't have a hand right now..."

"Laes... modifying something in 30 minutes is considered pretty fast by most peoples' standards," Bann informed him.

"Oh... really?" Laes blinked.

He was genuinely surprised to learn this.

Speed had been an issue not only in his classes but in prison as well. It always seemed like things needed to be made at impossibly fast rates that he was just barely able to do, even when he had both of his hands, so he never considered himself that quick.

"Modifying something in 20 minutes was my final exam in grade school, and pretty much everyone made it past grade-school."

"Your people are scary," Bann stated with some humour in his voice.

"Says the guy with all the military training," Laes quipped back.

Irken soldiers could probably kill a few dozen people in 30 minutes by hand... and now he wished he hadn't thought about that.

"You're calling the Massive again today." He insisted when he realized they were off topic. "Don't think I'll forget."

Although he had forgotten he was in the middle of a room with thousands of strangers mulling about. Now that he remembered he kind of wanted to stop talking and joking around and just work on something so he'd forget again.

* * *

 **More Notes:** Just because Laes is easily distracted doesn't mean he's that easily distracted Bann. Jeez. They're still trying to work out the awkwardness between them, but that doesn't seem to be going super well at the moment.


	16. Chapter 16

**The Dos and Don'ts**

"You've been eyeing me for a while now," Bann spoke, his antennae flicking forward as he turned and scowled up at Darden who was approaching him from behind.

His grip on the paper in his hand tightened.

"It's getting kind of annoying."

"You've been keeping very close to Laes," Darden stated, glowering down at the him.

Usually Irkens did this to try and intimidate smaller, weaker, Irkens.

That was how Darden was viewing him right now... as something inferior. It was a tad annoying, but he needed to stay in character.

"I don't care what your orders are. If you harm him I won't let you live..." Darden continued.

This was a very direct warning.

Darden was only worried about his assignment.

For some reason the Irken soldier had been tasked with protecting Laes.

Bann's scowl instantly changed into a light-hearted smile.

"Oh no, I'm just a navigator. I don't do secret killing missions or stuff like that," he assured the other Irken.

Bann was speaking with another person's mouth and looking through another person's eyes... even so, he was still himself... at least for now.

He was beginning to get those familiar headaches: the ones he got when he started losing control of the Tallest's PAK.

He thought he would have an easier time keeping Filik's consciousness locked away, but the feisty navigator was beginning to fight back. His thoughts were spinning... he could remember some of the Tallest's thoughts and feelings, and he knew more about Filik's life than he ever wanted to know about anyone.

At the same time his own memories were becoming blurred and somewhat distorted.

He was still in control though, and his will was stronger than Filik's. With some concentration he could probably block out the navigator for a while longer yet.

"You haven't been told to stay here have you?" Darden asked although it sounded more like a threat.

Bann's antennae flattened when the former soldier took another step towards him. He crouched a bit and his muscles tensed. He was ready to block or dodge whatever the other Irken threw at him.

"Hang on buddy, you don't want to start a fight with me in the middle of a crowded room," Bann insisted, glancing in Laes' general direction before shifting his attention back to the former soldier.

"Someone could get hurt ya know."

Darden's antennae flicked back. He continued scowling, but he didn't move any closer.

"Besides, we both know if I left this place I'd probably get eaten before I ever saw the Massive again," Bann shrugged. "It's not worth the risk, so I plan to stay here for a while thanks."

The ex-soldier studied him for a little while longer before turning away. This was the Irken who killed him... the one who'd impaled him through the chest and caused him to die.

Darden had nearly killed Laes too, or so the Vortian said.

Even so, Bann felt no desire to harm the banished soldier. At least not right at this moment.

He attacked a trained Irken and suffered the consequences. There was no reason to seek out revenge.

"If you don't leave soon, you'll become trapped here," Darden told him.

"I know, and I'm pretty ok with that," Bann responded offering the solemn Irken a smile. "I've already been replaced. The Tallest won't care what happens to me."

"It sounds like you don't care whether you make it back or not," Darden spoke without looking in his direction. "But that's your business."

"It sure is," Bann agreed, nodding. "Well if that's all you wanted to talk about then I'm going to go find some of these."

He held up the list Laes had given him. Then he turned and began walking towards the middle of the cafeteria where the Vortians were keeping most of their supplies they managed to salvage.

Bann glanced over his list again before looking at the pile of random materials. He knew what most of this stuff was, but there were a couple items he couldn't recognize even with Laes' doodles. He would have to ask someone to identify a few of them for him.

Fortunately there were plenty of people to ask.

A scrawny bluish Vortian he asked was more than happy to stop whatever he was doing and lend a hand.

Then with both of his arms full he returned to Laes and placed a few things on the desk and the rest on the floor.

He stayed crouched beside the objects, ready to pass Laes whatever tools or materials he needed.

"Oh shoot, I forgot about the brake latch..." Laes admitted, rubbing his forehead. "Bann, could you grab me a small piece of metal," he used his fingers to show the correct length. "About this big?"

"Sure boss," Bann responded with a smirk.

"You can call me that all you want, but I'm not paying you anything," Laes retorted, and Bann chuckled.

"Come on, even the lowest Irken drone gets paid at least five monies every two years."

"If you don't like working for free, you can always return to the Empire."

"Oh ha ha. Real funny. What can a dead Irken do for the Empire?"

"I don't know. Haunt something?"

Bann smirked and shook his head.

It was nice he and Laes could joke like this again.

Finding a small piece of metal should be easy. The room was full of metal debris.

He wasn't paying attention to everything that was going on since there were thousands of Vortians all working on completing the barrier.

A large number of them had left the relative safety of the prison to set up some very tall pylons that would conduct the energy of the barrier and spread it hopefully across the entire planet.

The majority of them were still busy here though.

It was interesting watching them work.

What at first looked like chaos quickly fell into order as different engineers, technicians, and programmers all began preforming their roles. Team leaders quickly took charge of different groups, but there was no well defined single leader.

Those in charge often spoke with each other, making suggestions and throwing out ideas.

They were meeting right now near where everyone took turns sleeping.

Vort's government officials had been slaughtered along side any kind of Vortian military personnel. Vort hadn't had a Tallest or royalty anything similar to that for nearly a century. Maybe longer.

Instead they relied on a completely different kind of government... it had more than just one official, though he had to admit he really didn't know much about Vort.

Before meeting Laes he hadn't cared much about the planet or its had just been a job location, nothing else.

He kept his eyes scanning the ground as he approached the pile of random materials.

There was a lot of metal pieces, most of them were jagged and definitely the wrong size.

He crouched down and began digging a bit, glad for the gloves he was wearing.

There were plenty of Vortians around, but since he was focused on his task he didn't notice all of them. It was easy to disregard these people because none of them were acting hostile, which was kind of strange.

Despite being imprisoned and mistreated by the Empire, almost all of the Vortians here didn't appear to be bothered by the two Irkens mingling with them.

"Are you really Bann?"

A familiar voice startled him from his thoughts. He glanced over at the nearby Vortian and quickly realized it was Lard Nar.

The former leader of the Resisty appeared to be searching for something in the large pile of stuff as well.

There was no reason to lie about it now... Lard Nar heard Laes call him by name earlier.

He tried to think of a good way to respond. What would make him seem not as threatening? He decided to rub the back of his head ruefully as he answered, "yeah... it's kind of a long story."

"I see..." Lard Nar said with little emotion, and he sighed.

The Vortian had given him a chance once, and with this chance he ended up sabotaging the Resisty's ship and informing his Tallest of their coordinates. After this he beat one of their leaders to within an inch of his life and then stood by and watched as his Tallest killed the same leader and order the execution of everyone else.

Even though he hadn't listened to his Tallest's command to kill the ex-Resisty leader, Lard Nar had very little reason to trust him.

"You rescued Laes before," Lard Nar spoke without looking at him. "You died protecting him... Thank you for that..."

Lard Nar was thanking him...?

Bann stood up and turned to properly regard the ex-captain.

"Saving Laes doesn't excuse what I did to you..." Bann told him, and his antennae lowered. "I was foolish to think I could protect Laes while maintaining my place inside the Empire, and you lost a lot of people because of my reckless actions..." He paused briefly before saying, "I apologize for my lack of judgment."

Was he apologizing because he meant it or because it was the expected thing to do? Even though he was just a program with no real life of his own anymore, he still asked himself the same questions he did when he was alive.

"What you're doing right now..." Lard Nar's gaze left the pile of materials and slowly shifted to him. "Won't it slowly destroy you?"

Bann stood a bit taller, and his antennae lifted.

Lard Nar knew what was happening?

Every time he entered another Irken's PAK he not only left with some of the thoughts and feelings of the other Irken, distorting his own programming, but he also left pieces of his own coding behind. He already had memory lapses from his smeet-hood, and he couldn't remember the names of the guards he used to work with.

"Not if I'm careful," he responded, offering Lard Nar a fake smile. "I can't make up for what I've done in the past, but I don't plan on making the same mistakes twice..."

His eyes narrowed as he studied the Vortian. The circle's under Lard Nar's eyes hadn't gone away, and he was barely holding himself up.

"It looks like you're destroying yourself worse than I am." Bann pointed out. "When's the last time you slept? Have you been eating?"

Lard Nar returned to searching for something in the pile, ignoring Bann's questions.

"You haven't been sleeping or eating have you?" Bann asked, letting out a sigh.

Lard Nar was still as stubborn as ever... why didn't the Vortian ever think about his own well-being?

"You know I'm going to insist you stop working until you rest for a bit. I might be in a navigator's body, but I still have the memories of my medical training."

He was still being ignored, so he moved closer to Lard Nar and placed his gloved hand on the Vortian's shoulder.

Lard Nar cringed. Then without warning, Bann found himself dodging a pretty decent strike. He had to move to the side while stepping backwards to avoid taking a hit.

"Don't touch me..." Lard Nar warned him through clenched teeth. His hands were balled into fists. "I..." He started trembling, and his eyes widened as he looked down at his hands then back at Bann.

Lard Nar's reaction suggested he attacked without thinking. Still, Bann wasn't going to wait and see if the Vortian decided to continue his assault or not. He launched himself forward, aiming a punch. Lard Nar was able to dodge this, but Bann swung his elbow back and caught the Vortian in the side of the head.

The former leader of the Resisty landed hard on the broken floor. He curled into a protective ball, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

"If you were taking care of yourself you would have lasted longer in a fight against me," Bann commented.

"Bann! What are you doing!?" Laes yelled at him from across the room.

Darden came in-between him and Lard Nar. The ex-soldier glowered at him and deployed his PAK's appendages in a very threatening manner.

Vortians who'd been busy working stopped and began forming a very large circle around them. They were curious to know what was going on.

None of them were eager to begin a fight with the Irkens though, so they kept their distance.

"We were just talking," Bann explained as his smile returned.

He'd been a bit startled, but that hadn't been the reason he chose to retaliate. He figured the easiest way for Lard Nar to get the rest and care he needed was to knock him out.

This way he could claim that the Vortian had fainted from exhaustion.

Unfortunately he misjudged Filik's strength, so the blow hadn't been fast or hard enough to make Lard Nar lose consciousness.

There was also a chance he might have given the Vortian a concussion now that he had time to think about his actions... in that case someone would need to keep and eye on Lard Nar while he was rested.

"You attacked him," Darden grumbled as he knelt down and scooped Lard Nar off the floor. "How was that "talking?"

"He'll be fine," Bann responded, waving away Darden's words. "Just make sure he eats something and rests for a bit."

The Vortian could also use some ice, but he doubted he'd be able to find any in this wreckage.

"Oh jeez... just... Darden, go lay him down in that cot I was using," Laes told the Irken who obeyed without complaining. "And Bann... that was horrible. You really need to stop hurting people."

"I'm sorry," Bann apologized, dipping his head in an attempt to feign remorse. "I'll try not to do it again."

"We're talking about this later," Laes insisted. He rubbed his temples. "Seriously Bann... I don't understand you..."

"Yeah... I don't always understand myself either."

"This isn't the right time to joke around."

He wasn't joking, but he decided it would be better to apologize right now regardless.

"Sorry."

Laes was angry with him. He should have seen this coming... what was he thinking?

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** If you want to be friends with someone, I hear beating up their other friends isn't a good way to go about it. Of course I've never tried it myself so I can't say for certain, but my sources are usually pretty reliable on these social matters.


	17. Chapter 17

**More than Friends**

And here Laes was concerned Darden would be the one going around hitting people... he sighed to himself as he carefully tapped a button on the control panel he made.

The chair floated forwards.

Removing the wheels made sense because the ground was pretty broken up. It would have been much quicker getting the chair to roll, but at least this way he hoped he wouldn't have to worry about running into something on the floor and crashing.

There would be plenty of other ways to crash... like not having proper brakes for one but he would worry about that later.

Right now he wanted to check and make sure Lard Nar was ok.

He tapped the forward button again. The chair moved forward. He carefully held the button down and the chair continuously moved forward at a slorget's pace, but he didn't need it to go super fast so it was working well enough.

The other Vortians made room for him to pass by which was kind of nice.

Then the chair stopped moving.

He pushed the button a few times and was a bit worried he might be stranded in the center of the busy cafeteria.

"Cool chair," Veena commented.

She didn't sound like she was being sarcastic, so she probably wasn't.

Laes looked over his shoulder and found her holding onto the back of his chair.

"Oh... um... hey, how's it going?"

"Your Irken friends seem to be causing trouble," she stated, narrowing an eye at him.

"Darden isn't causing trouble," Laes remarked.

He wished he could say the same about Bann, but death really hadn't helped the former Irken become less violent.

"But yeah... Bann and Lard Nar don't really get along..."

Although he didn't actually they would actually punch each other because of it... apparently he was being too optimistic in that sense.

He pointed feebly in the direction he was trying to travel. "Can I go now please?"

She wasn't letting go.

"Why are you so interested in Irkens?" she asked him.

Her voice didn't sound as harsh as it usually did. She actually sounded curious.

"Irkens are usually pretty terrible... but they've also saved my life more than once so..." he tried, hoping this answer would be enough.

Laes decided to try tapping the button again even though the chair wouldn't move with her holding onto it.

"I mean... it was their fault I ended up in life or death situations but..." he sighed and slouched forward, resting his face against his hand. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"You're pretty interesting," Veena remarked as she released her grip on his chair. "Don't get yourself killed, ok?"

Laes blinked, confused.

Was she worried about him? It was kind of hard to tell since her voice didn't sound any different and her expression was not really expressive.

"Oh um... yes... I'll uh... I'll try not to die... although I seem to be pretty good at getting maimed... ha ha..." he responded after a long awkward silence.

Veena promptly left, and he continued floating his chair over to the hallway filled with cots.

Why did he sound so stupid whenever he spoke to female Vortians? Or aliens that appeared to be female?

He kept wondering about it, but no matter how much he thought about it, or didn't, he always reacted the same way.

His parents had dropped whatever they were doing and were standing beside the cot, probably to offer some kind of moral support.

Both of them were really good at putting a positive spin on things, but Lard Nar was kind of anti-positive and seemed to dislike optimism of any kind, so he hoped his parents would tone it down a little.

"That's a nice chair," his father remarked. "Did you upgrade it yourself?"

"Thanks. Yeah, I did," Laes replied.

He looked over at Darden who was standing nearby, but giving both his parents and Lard Nar enough space. The former soldier's antennae were almost flat, and he was scowling.

Lard Nar was lying curled up on his side. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing very softly, but he wasn't sleeping. He was never sleeping.

"Can you give us a minute?" He asked his parents.

"Sure...?" His father responded.

Felara whispered something to him, and he smiled and nodded before they walked away together arm in arm.

Darden didn't need to be asked to leave. He turned towards the cafeteria and found a spot within view, but out of hearing range.

At least the former soldier was reliable.

"Hey um... how are you feeling?" Laes asked as he lightly touched Lard Nar's hand.

He waited for some kind of reaction, but there wasn't one. That had been a stupid question anyway.

After a few minutes of awkwardly standing there waiting for a reply, Lard Nar's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Laes for a moment before he pulling his hand away from his.

"I attacked him first... he was stronger. That's all."

Laes massaged his temples before running a hand down his face.

"Bann was a jerk... I totally get it. He's still a jerk. But attacking each other right now isn't going to help... so I'll talk to him. I'll ask him not to hit anymore people... but can you maybe not hit people too?"

"Yeah... sorry..." Lard Nar spoke in a quiet murmur. He rolled onto his other side, so his back was facing Laes. "I won't cause you anymore trouble..."

"You're not causing me trouble Lard Nar," Laes replied, and he let out a sigh. "You're a good friend ok? Actually you're more than that to me..."

He rubbed the back of his head and looked away.

"This might be kind of a bold thing to say... but um..." he paused for a moment to take a breath.

"You're pretty much like an older brother to me... and I know that probably sounds weird because we aren't actually related and we weren't locked up together for very long... but that's how I feel about it."

Lard Nar slowly sat up and turned to make eye-contact with the other Vortian.

"You sound like your father..."

"Yeah... he's been a pretty big influence in my life..." Laes' eyes narrowed a bit. "Wait... what did he say?"

"Nothing..." he responded, and he glanced at the wall. "Never mind..."

"Did he say you were like a brother to him too?"

That would be weird... then... that would make Lard Nar like his uncle... but they weren't that far apart in age. At least he was pretty sure... shoot... he should have paid less attention to the food during birthday celebrations and more attention to the actual birthdays.

No, he was pretty sure Lard Nar wasn't that much older than him.

Why would his father say that? Well... it was his father.

Lard Nar bit his lower lip, and he bowed his head.

It was difficult getting the former leader of the Resisty to open up about his thoughts and feelings. He was too content keeping everything bottled up inside him.

"I just... I can't apologize enough for everything I put your through..." Lard Nar rubbed the bruise forming on the side of his head. "How can you forgive me...?"

"There's nothing to forgive though. I'm serious," Laes insisted.

He wanted to smack himself in the face, but that would probably make Lard Nar feel worse at this point.

"I was tortured by the Irkens; they were the ones that cut off my hand, and they also crashed us on that horrible jungle planet. You didn't do any of that, ok?"

Lard Nar wouldn't look at him, so Laes moved close enough to grab one of his shoulders.

Laes would have grabbed both shoulders, but he only had one hand... that hadn't changed.

His face was inches away from the ex-captain's...

He really should have figured out this whole socializing thing by now. Personal space was usually very important, but the other Vortian wasn't listening. What else was he supposed to do?

Lard Nar squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shrink away.

"You aren't the one who hurt me Lard Nar," Laes insisted.

How many times was he going to have to say it before Lard Nar finally understood?

"Can you repeat that, or at least say you agree with me?"

"I can't..." the other Vortian murmured. "If I hadn't said your name..."

"I'm glad you did, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better either..." Laes let go of Lard Nar's shoulders, but he was leaning too far forward on his chair so he was dumped onto the cot.

"Oops... um... sorry about that," he apologized as he pushed himself up.

He was practically laying on Lard Nar, but his former cellmate didn't budge at all. He managed to manoeuvre himself off of the other Vortian, and he sat at the edge of the mattress.

"After you said my name, I could have just said I didn't know you, although I'm a pretty bad liar when I think... but anyway, I could have walked away when they said they would kill you, but I didn't, and if you gave me the same choice right now I would make the exact same choice I did before.

So don't go thinking you're the one who caused me problems. You did everything you could to protect me. You've always treated me like a brother. No matter what happened or how badly I reacted to things you kept supporting me and that's why I just really want to see you happy for a change."

Lard Nar reached out and carefully touched one of Laes' legs near his knee.

"Can you feel that...?"

"Um..." Laes looked at the other Vortian's hand for a few moments.

He couldn't feel it. Saying he couldn't feel his legs was going to make Lard Nar upset wasn't it..? Maybe he should lie about it... but he wasn't very good at that.

"Not right now, but I'm sure some feeling will come back when the drugs wear off," he responded with a smile.

Of course those feelings would probably be pain... He definitely wasn't going to say that though.

"In the mean time I have that," he pointed at the chair that was floating beside the cot. "It's nothing fancy, but it'll work for now."

Without any prompting or warnings at all, Lard Nar suddenly hugged him.

"I don't know how you're able to be like this...You've been maimed and crippled... but you're still smiling..."

His grip tightened a little. Laes could feel him trembling.

"That's because I can't feel my legs," Laes joked, and he chuckled nervously.

Oh shloot. Why did he say that..?

Then he noticed his mother and father were walking towards them.

"Um... my parents are coming back," he told Lard Nar and the other Vortian immediately let go. "I know they act kind of strange sometimes, but you can rely on them. They're good people."

"Don't mind us," his mother said, covering her smile.

"Yeah, we can come back later," Freedo commented without even trying to hide his smirk.

Laes recognized those intentional looks they were giving him.

He glanced at Lard Nar who had decided to lie back down and pretend to sleep again.

"Thanks for the support..." Laes told him in a hushed whisper.

Then he returned his attention to his parents.

"It's not what you're thinking."

Just because he was super awkward around girls and tended to avoid talking to them most of the time didn't necessarily mean he was going to bond with a guy.

It didn't help that people were so quick to jump to conclusions... his parents too. They'd always given him the impression that they would support him no matter who he decided to be with though.

They probably wouldn't care if this person wasn't Vortian too. He had a feeling they'd be overjoyed even if his partner turned out to be the Tallest or something ridiculous, and why would he even think of that?

Nope, just no.

"It's ok son," his father tried to encourage him from across the way. "You can love whoever you want."

"As long as you're happy and they're a good person," his mother added.

Laes buried his face in his hands. "Thanks Lard Nar... I'm totally blaming you for this."

"You're the one still trying to explain yourself," Lard Nar responded in a quiet murmur.

He was even smiling about it. Was he really joking around right now? His timing was really something.

"I just told you I can't feel my legs and you're blaming me? You were the one touching me and hugging me out of nowhere!"

Lard Nar blamed himself for everything else, yet this situation was somehow wasn't his fault? Really?

"Fine. I might as well share this cot with you then since we're apparently together now," Laes teased, pushing the other Vortian's arm. "Move over."

Lard Nar tapped him lightly with his foot. "Get back on your chair."

"Ok ok, I'm going," Laes remarked, reaching for one of the armrests.

Now if only he'd had some upper body strength... He attempted to heave himself onto the chair and ended up tilting it enough that he had to give up and slide onto the floor.

* * *

 **True fact:** Most of the time when I overly emphasize Laes only having one hand, it's because I forgot about it while I was writing and caught the error in editing.


	18. Chapter 18

**Making Contact**

Bann retreated to an empty hallway and took out his communicator.

He typed in his Tallest's number and waited.

If the line didn't connect he would try again in a little while.

To his surprise the Tallest's face appeared on the screen. There were circles under the Irken leader's eyes, his face was pale, and his crimson ocular implants were duller than they usually were.

"Who are you?" the Tallest asked him with an edge of impatience in his voice. "What do you want?"

With a smile and a quick salute Bann answered: "I'm Filik sir; the navigator you sent to Vort with that Vortian you maimed."

"Oh...?" the Tallest's eyes narrowed. "Why are you calling me?"

"Well sir, the Vortian has been asking me over and over and over again if he can speak with you," Bann responded, shrugging and shaking his head. "I told him you were busy. I told him he wasn't important enough, but that guy really doesn't shut up."

He stopped talking for a little while as he tried to read his leader's expression. He couldn't.

"Is that why you stabbed him?" he asked since a part of him wanted to know and the other part of him wanted to annoy Irk's leader a bit.

"What...?" Tallest Red's antennae flattened and he rubbed his temples. "No... I stabbed him because... it doesn't matter why."

The Tallest glared at the screen.

"Why does he want to talk to me anyway? I almost killed him, so talking to me is kind of stupid."

"Well... from what I understand, he called Zim because he knows about the worms, but the banished disgrace will only talk to you, so the Vortian wanted to talk to you about talking to him."

"Zim won't help anyone..." The Tallest muttered, resting his face on his hand. "It's impossible to get anything useful from him. He'll just blabber on uselessly and somehow make something in the Empire explode."

"Yeah, that's what I said too! That guy is really..." Bann remarked. He quickly covered his mouth and this muffled his words a bit. "Sorry my Tallest... I spoke too quickly."

The corner of the Tallest's mouth twitched.

"That's fine... I have new orders for you..."

"Yes sir!" Bann immediately perked up and pretended to listen eagerly for his new assignment.

"I... I think I was too quick to... I mean... if you can offer the Vortians some help... you can do that..."

"Help the Vortians?" Bann blinked in confusion. "I... I don't mean any disrespect my Tallest... but they're inferior and gross and I hate them... why should we help them at all?"

"Because I'm the Tallest and you're not," Irk's leader answered him easily.

Bann dipped his head. "Sorry sir..."

He didn't have to fake this reaction. He actually felt uncomfortable.

"It was stupid of me to ask that question... I will follow your orders no matter how I feel about the situation. No problem."

The Tallest sighed. He closed his eyes and rubbed them.

"If Laes wants to talk, I'll talk to him one more time before the final barrier closes."

"Oh..." Bann gestured towards the cafeteria. "Should I get him?"

"Yeah sure. Go ahead."

Bann didn't end the call, but he did return his communicator to his PAK before leaving the hallway.

He scanned the cafeteria for Laes... the Vortian wasn't by the junk pile and he wasn't among the working teams.

There he was... Bann squinted. Lying on the floor for some reason?

He hurried over before Laes' parents could help him up. He grabbed the collapsed Vortian around the waist while all four metal limbs sprang from his PAK.

Using these he was able to launch himself and Laes into the air.

"Sorry, I need to borrow him for a minute!" He called back to Laes' mom and dad.

Freedo cupped his mouth so he could project his voice.

"Ok! Just have him back by midnight!"

Laes didn't speak at first. He was probably surprised.

Then when they stopped moving Laes pushed himself away from him and ended up face-down on the floor again.

The Vortian propped himself up a little with his good...only hand and frowned up at the Irken.

"Why did you...?" he began, but he was silenced when a communicator was shoved into his face without any explanation.

The Tallest was on the screen.

Laes balked and then gawked for a minute before clearing his throat and trying to adopt a normal expression although he was smiling much too weird.

"Tallest, hi," he attempted to greet the Tallest normally, but his voice was a bit too strained and he was grasping the communicator so tightly Bann worried it might break. "I uh..."

"I don't know how you got Zim's number, but you need to stop calling him right now..." Irk's leader told him plainly.

"I know he's a little... eccentric... but he knows a lot about the worms and maybe if I phrase it the right way he might..."

"Laes..." Tallest Red spoke, cutting the Vortian off. "His programming was created to upset the entire Irken system... I won't call him. I'll never call him... and if you want your planet to not explode, you'll stop calling him too."

"But..." Laes deflated which almost meant his face hitting the floor again. "But the worms could attack us any minute, and if they have a weakness..."

"Their weakness is blowing them up from the inside," the Tallest explained, though he sounded annoyed while doing it. "When an Irken soldier self-detonates inside one of those creatures, it usually dies... of course the soldier dies too, so there's a limited amount of times it can be done that way."

"Oh..." Laes looked around at the craters in the floor. "That's kind of a bummer... also if that's true, where's all the worm gross?"

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Tallest Red asked, ignoring the question.

"I just have one more question..." Laes began, and he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Why are you suddenly telling me everything again...? I um... kind of thought you hated us... or me."

"Because..." Tallest Red breathed a sigh and covered his eyes with one hand. He rubbed them, and then ran his hand down his face. "When I returned to Irk, one of the advisers I had searching for more lost history uncovered something disturbing..."

"You can't tell me what it is... can you?"

"I can, but I won't."

"Please?" Laes asked, grabbing his stump. "I already know everything else anyway."

The Tallest stared at him for a few long awkward moments.

"You won't like it," Irk's leader warned him.

"That's ok... oh wait."

Laes looked somewhat conflicted. He chewed his lower lip, and he glanced away from the monitor for a moment.

"I'm not sure if you've seen the purple Tallest yet, but he asked me to tell you something," Laes began, tapping his fingers together.

"He said he wanted you to come to your senses and to stop being a jerk..." The Vortian placed a finger on his chin. "Maybe that's why I forgot to say it before..."

Bann smacked himself in the face. Why off Irk did Laes decide to mention something like that now?

Tallest Red snickered. Then he laughed.

"Yeah, Purple would say that alright."

He pushed his antennae down and shook his head.

"Purple is really something..."

"Oh... so... did he tell you that already?" Laes questioned.

"No," Tallest Red immediately responded. He crossed his arms and scowled.

"Shut up. He's fine."

"I um... didn't ask if he..." Laes let his comment peter out when the Tallest's scowl deepened.

Bann knew Tallest Purple was dead... at least his PAK had been so badly damaged that no amount of probing could access his data.

The Tallest's body was being kept alive by a complex life-support system, so Tallest Purple was nothing more than an empty shell. There was probably no way for him to come back.

Tallest Red promptly changed the topic of conversation, clearly avoiding the topic of the other Tallest.

"We destroyed all of the worms near Vort, so you won't have to worry about an attack for a while."

"You did?" Laes questioned, tilting his head a little. "Why?"

"We did it in self-defence... they were trying to eat us."

"Oh, well, it still really helps us out that you did that."

"Heh," Tallest Red smirked. "You're pretty strange. Shouldn't you be angry at me for having you tortured, destroying your home, imprisoning your parents, and maiming you horribly? I think most aliens would be angry or at least bitter about all of that."

"You didn't kill me or my parents," Laes quickly responded. "You could have killed us, but you didn't, and I'm pretty happy they're still alive."

The Tallest shrugged.

"Ok. If you say so."

He looked off screen and gave a quick nod.

Then his eyes returned to the monitor.

"The barrier is ready to activate. You won't hear from me again after this... are you sure you want to know more about your people's involvement with the Invaders?"

"Yes, I do," Laes responded without hesitation.

The Tallest held up a very old looking disk.

"Then I'll send this to you."

He pointed to someone off screen.

"You over there!"

He held out the disk to his follower.

"You wanted to return to Vort don't you!? Then take this there!"

His eyes narrowed at someone else.

"And you! You're going with him!"

"Yes my Tallest," two voices echoed.

"Hurry up before the barrier activates!" Tallest Red's shoulder's drooped and his antennae became limp.

"Well," he looked back at the screen. "That's it then."

The transmission ended, and the communicator withdrew back into Bann's PAK.

"The Purple Tallest is dead, and all of the surviving Irkens are barricading themselves on Irk," Bann remarked slowly shaking his head as he placed a hand on his face.

He glanced down at Laes.

"Are you going to stay on the floor?"

"The drugs make my legs numb," Laes said, looking up at the Irken. "And I'm still mad at you for hurting Lard Nar."

"I don't remember 'Pain' getting this much attitude after he cut off your hand," Bann stated, crossing his arms and letting his antennae fall as he frowned down at his boots. He kicked an imaginary pebble too.

"Stop pouting and go apologize," Laes scolded him.

"I'm a navigator right now thanks, and I am going to apologize, so stop nagging me."

He bent down and picked up Laes off the ground, wrapping the Vortian's arm around his shoulders and supporting him with an arm around his waist.

Laes was able to move his legs a little, but they wouldn't support his weight, so Bann kept a firm grip on him.

This time he wasn't in a hurry so he didn't use his PAK legs for extra propulsion. He might have scared some of the Vortians with his metal appendages earlier since the Vortians kept looking at him while keeping well out of his way.

Those who were in his path quickly moved.

Laes' parents had returned to work which wasn't surprising.

Lard Nar appeared to be sleeping, so there was no reason for them to stay.

Darden's eyes were on him. The Irken soldier moved closer to the cot as he approached.

He offered the serious ex-soldier a friendly smile and was met with a scowl.

Darden wouldn't let him hurt Lard Nar again, he was sure.

After he helped Laes climb into his chair, he studied Lard Nar for a few seconds. There was definitely going to be a decent sized bruise where he'd struck him.

He'd watch a lot of Vortians get smacked around, and he'd also participated in beating a few himself when the other guards were watching. A single hit wasn't really a big deal. Besides, Lard Nar obviously had some combat training; it wasn't like he was helpless.

Still, Laes was upset about the confrontation, and he didn't really want to make an enemy out of Lard Nar when there was no reason to.

"Hey, sorry I struck you back there," Bann tried since he wasn't too sure if Lard Nar was awake or not. "I was trying to prove a point I guess, and you know how Irkens are when it comes to violence and using it excessively."

Lard Nar opened his eyes and looked up at Bann.

"You're still angry about what I did to the Resisty aren't you?" the former guard asked.

Even though he felt a little conflicted, he still didn't feel sympathy for anyone who died.

Instead he was concerned about how Laes was feeling.

"It wasn't personal."

"It wasn't personal?" Lard Nar repeated with a scowl. "Drent was beaten badly before the Tallest killed him... you did that didn't you?"

Right... he had done that. He'd also forgotten about it.

Mentioning he forgot about it probably wouldn't help this situation.

"Yes... I was a bit rough with him, but he was refusing to cooperate, and violence is easy."

He rubbed the side of his face.

"Maybe I was angry."

"You're dead..." Lard Nar stated. "The person you were before is dead." He let out a small sigh. "You can be different now... I'll try to give you that chance."

"Thanks," Bann replied with his usual smile.

He probably only had a few days left in this body, but he would try to help out as much as he could before Filik reclaimed his PAK.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I will now answer my own question about the lack of guts and worm goo around the wrecked prison. The guards didn't detonate while getting eaten. Instead they self-destructed as the worms were beginning to break through the prison. This did injure some of the creatures yes, but considering worms can go through a planet's atmosphere without any issues, the explosions didn't kill them.

It's possible that the Tallest forgot to inform the guards about the worm's weakness... actually that's totally what happened. Oops.

Also Red finally answered the question if Purple's dead or not. Did you see it? "Shut up he's fine." You know that's the kind of blatant dismissiveness you can trust. I definitely don't suspect at all that he might not be fine now. Nope.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Notes:** Another relationship ended in failure, and I'm kinda trapped inside mostly right now due to humanity's new virus, so I've got time to update again.

There's always at least one positive out there if I look hard enough, but enough about me. Onto the chapter.

 **Warning:** May contain slight nudity, something that could be considered torture, and general grossness.

* * *

 **The Horrible Truth**

It was 2 days later when an Irken Voot cruiser arrived.

Pain had returned with the promised disk.

There was also a pilot who'd accompanied Pain. Her name was named Lyra. She was dressed in a purple uniform that covered the bottom half of her face like a typical Irken pilot.

At first the Vortians were a bit wary of the Irkens, especially Pain since he'd been given his nickname for a very good reason.

The young blue-grey Vortian who was numbered 343 didn't seem to care though. He hugged Pain (he was probably the only one in history to do so without getting hit) and he stayed close to the soldier.

Negi was orphaned. Both of his parents were dead; his father before the invasion and his mother sometime after. He had an uncle, but the guy wasn't interested in raising him, probably due to all the psychological trauma and being unable to grieve for his brother and his brother's wife for so long.

Laes asked him to pass a wrench the other day and the guy suddenly erupted into tears so... yeah. He really wasn't ready to take care of a child.

There had been a lot of death, and many individuals were suffering after being physically and mentally abused by the Irkens.

Most Vortians were still able to put on a happy face and work because if they didn't they would likely get devoured by horrible giant death worms.

A lot of fractured families had also been reunited, so the emotional pain wasn't as terrible as it could be.

Laes had been helping with the work a bit here and there.

The drugs wore off that morning, and the pain was getting so unbearable he got Bann to administer a few more doses.

This meant he was confined to his chair for who knows how long, but at least he didn't have to suffer through the pain.

He was trying not to think about how his spine had been severed. He figured an injury like that, no matter how good the fix, would cause him problems for the rest of his life.

Now he had the disk. The Tallest had attached a note to it too. It was difficult making out the scribbled Irken letters, but then Irk's leader only had 2 fingers on each hand.

Hadn't the purple Tallest been good at drawing though?

Laes told one of the supervisors he was taking a break, but since he wasn't an essential part of any team no one would mind anyway. It was just the polite thing to do.

He returned to the computer he used to contact Zim. He had to rework it a little since the disk was very outdated and would no longer fit into any of the slots.

He was able to come up with an external holder which he attached to the computer. It took a full hour for the disk to load, and he had to fight off several error messages.

While he was waiting he decided to try and decipher the Tallest's letter again.

 _Laes,_

 _Irk will be under a barrier for a long time, and_

 _signals won't get through, so there won't be a_

 _way for you to contact me anymore. I drew_

 _a map on the back to show where the worms are_

 _currently coming from, and where the majority_

 _of them are gathered._

 _Don't involve Zim!_

 _Tallest_

Huh... Irk's leader didn't sign with his name.

Why were both Tallest named after colours anyway?

All Irkens were programmed with their names right? Was that something the Control Brains did?

As he was thinking about these things, the video started playing. It was grainy and a bit crackly. He changed a few settings around to try and make the picture more clear and stuffed the Tallest's letter into one of his pockets.

His eyes widened when a tall colourful winged creature appeared on the screen. Even though the quality of the video was awful, he could tell she looked like the drawings he'd seen of the goddess; shining vibrant green-blue skin, translucent wing like appendages, large black eyes and long curved black antennae.

She also wasn't wearing anything...

Oh cripes.

Did the Tallest send him one of 'those' videos?

All of the drawings he'd seen of the goddess had her wearing beautiful robes.

Not in this film though. Nope. She was totally naked.

"What are you watching?" Bann asked with an edge of mischief in his voice.

The Irken's face was hovering over his shoulder.

"Gah!" Laes nearly fell out of his chair, but he managed to hang on. "B-Bann... it's... this isn't..."

He tried to cover the screen with his hand and stump while blushing in embarrassment.

"The Tallest sent this!"

The Tallest was pretty young by Irken standards wasn't he? Even so, Laes didn't expect him to be into this kind of thing.

Weren't Irkens unable to reproduce naturally? All of their smeets were cloned and "hatched" in factories!

"Why would he send me this?"

"Well... I would just watch it then," Bann responded with a shrug. "The Tallest likes pranks, but I don't think he would joke about this kind of thing."

Laes swallowed the lump in his throat as he slowly lowered his hand and his stump away from the screen.

He stared in horror at the fuzzy video... this... this was how Vortians ended up with Invader DNA wasn't it...?

He cringed and covered his eyes.

The Invaders hadn't just come to Invade planets... they were body invaders... She paralyzed her victims and then...

The sounds were awful.

She was cutting into the helpless Vortian. Her poor victim couldn't move or scream, he peeked between his fingers as an egg was deposited into the Vortian's abdominal cavity, much to the silent victim's obvious horror.

Retching, Laes turned away from the monitor, just as Bann leaned over and took control of the key-board. He shut down the video and grabbed Laes by his shoulders.

"Hey... stay with me now... take deep breaths. Laes. Breathe."

Laes fell forward into Bann's arms, succumbing to the peaceful blackness.

It was too late though...

The horrible scene was burned into his memory forever.

* * *

He'd almost woken up a few times, but each time he forced himself unconscious before he could start thinking.

Soon his dreams would be plagued with that horrible video, so he needed to get as much sleep as he could before that happened.

That's what he kept telling himself every time he almost opened his eyes.

When he finally gave in to being awake, the first person he saw was Filik... who was actually Bann.

The Irken was standing beside the cot with an impassive look on his face. Bann's expression lifted when he noticed Laes was no longer unconscious. He moved closer to the bed and grasped the Vortian's hand.

"I watched all of it," he remarked; his tone sounding more serious than anything else. "You can ask me whatever you want to know."

Laes blinked up at him. He felt his eyes welling with tears.

Nothing on Vort right now could block out what he'd seen...

"Did you know your people used to have sharper more flexible horns?" Bann asked.

This seemed kind of random... was Bann trying to help him forget what he saw...?

"They were almost like pincers," The Irken commented.

"How did we get Invader DNA?" Laes questioned, pulling his hand out of Bann's. "From... from what I saw... I mean... did having those things inside us alter our DNA?"

"Well the dialogue was pretty hard to make-out... your language has changed a lot over the years, so my PAK couldn't translate it... I recorded down what I could and asked the oldest Vortian I could find..." the former guard paused and rubbed his chin.

"And?" Laes pressed.

"He told me he wasn't that old and to stop mocking him," Bann admitted with a half-smile, and his gaze shifted to the floor for a moment.

His antennae perked up as he raised his head.

"But I asked around a bit more and found a much younger Vortian who apparently studied the old language. What you witnessed were the early stages of this practice. The Invader eventually reduced the amount of venom she injected into her victims, allowing the egg to attach itself to the innards of the host, rather than to free-float around.

I'm assuming this allowed some of its DNA to pass on to the host... though most of the hosts ended up getting eaten... It's good you fainted before that part."

"But if the hosts were eaten..." He placed a hand on the side of his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "Then none of us would have..."

"Later, some of the hosts managed to survive the process, although the venom did cause some memory problems," Bann paused for a little while, giving Laes' a bit of time to catch up.

"That and there may have been some politics involved... their speech was a little vague. According to the translator, it sounded like those who offered sacrifices to the Invader were occasionally rewarded with technology or some kind of intelligence boost."

"Memory problems...?" Laes repeated.

Oh Vort... he was going to throw up. He covered his mouth, rolled onto his side, and curled into a fetal position.

"The hosts forgot where they got the larvae from... or even that the creatures erupted from their bodies. Very few survived, but as more technology was offered, some Vortians managed to live."

"Bann... please don't say "erupted" in that context... please... ughh..."

"So that's how it was..." He patted Laes on the back.

"The Irkens were the body-guards, and you guys were the incubators. Over time Vortians were able to obtain some of the Invader's DNA which made them smarter... and probably more colourful actually... most of the Vortians I saw on the video were either a dark grey or a faded brown colour."

"That doesn't make me feel any better..." Laes shivered and hugged himself. "I think I'm going to puke..."

Bann sighed. "Please don't."

"Ok... I won't because you asked me not to..." Laes remarked without masking his sarcasm.

He felt too sick to move very much. He was actually starting to gag, although he was fighting it.

Then there were arms around him.

His eyes snapped open as Bann pulled him into a a sitting position, and then into a partial hug.

Suddenly all thoughts of vomiting left his mind.

His muscles stiffened.

"B-Bann?" he stammered.

Irkens usually didn't do this.

"We're not the Invaders' puppets Laes... we're both free from them. There's no reason to be afraid."

"I'm uh... not afraid right now..." Laes responded, feeling a bit surprised and a little dazed that the Irken was actually hugging him. "I'm just disgusted. Really disgusted."

Bann let go, but he remained standing close. It was almost too close actually.

"Your disgusted looks like you being afraid," Bann commented.

"Yeah, I'll um... work on that I guess," Laes said, relaxing a little. "Just... they're all dead right? The Invaders? Your people killed them all didn't they?"

Bann was quiet for a while.

"You know Laes... those Invader spawn were being sent somewhere... they didn't stay on Vort and they weren't brought to Irk... that means somewhere out there... there may have been another colony of Invaders..."

"Oh my ganre what is this!?" someone suddenly shouted from the computers.

Laes shoved Bann away so he could look over at the computer he'd been using to view the disk.

Another Vortian was sitting there staring at the screen with a look of horror on his face.

"Bann... did you take the disk out when you were done...?" Laes questioned the Irken who was rubbing the back of his head and turning his face away.

"Maybe...?" he tried.

"Please take it out before someone else gets mentally scarred for life..."

"Yeah, alright," Bann agreed as he hurried over there.

That disk was the reason the Tallest became nice again?

Laes dragged his hand down his face.

It was probably also one of the reasons Irk's leader didn't want him contacting Zim who had Invader programming. If the defective was running off of an Invader's program, there would be a lot of problems once Zim got involved...

"You didn't stay out of the cot for very long..." Lard Nar commented.

Laes's attention immediately turned to Lard Nar who was standing beside him.

He hadn't heard his former-cellmate at all... did he just get here? Where did he come from? Hold on... wasn't Lard Nar laying in this cot a little while ago?

"Sorry," Laes apologized. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Not yet..." Lard Nar admitted. "I'll try again once another cot opens up..." he studied Laes for a moment. "What happened...? Bann carried you here after you passed out."

"Oh uh... the Tallest gave me a disk from Irk actually..." Laes responded and he could feel his face getting warmer. "It's um... pretty horrifying..."

Lard Nar frowned, but he didn't say anything.

"The Irkens have some Vortian history buried in their archives... it was written by people who knew what was going on..." Laes was trying to explain everything as quickly and simply as possible since he really wanted Lard Nar to believe him.

"Vortians and Irkens had no idea what was happening... even now it's... until the Tallest started digging up all of this information no one really thought about it... but it's gross and horrible and..." he covered his face with his hand and his stump again. "The things they did to our people and to the Irkens... how could anyone do that?"

"I've got the disk," Bann spoke. "There's more video on the other side."

Laes slowly uncovered his face and looked over at him.

Bann was holding out the disk for him to take, but he didn't even want to touch the thing.

"This is the disk from the Tallest...?" Lard Nar asked as he reached out to take it.

Laes quickly snatched it out of Bann's hand and held it close to his chest.

"No! You can't watch it! You're already dealing with too much trauma as it is!" He paused to chew on his lower lip. "Sorry. It's just uh... I don't want you to get even more mental scars from this thing..."

"Ok... Laes... you need to calm down," Bann told him, and he patted Laes on the shoulder. "Just relax, not everyone is as squeamish as you."

"But it's..." Laes tried to protest, but his words were suddenly gone.

Bann looked at Lard Nar.

"Do you want to watch this disk?" he asked, tapping the disk Laes was holding onto so tightly. "It has some pretty disturbing content on it, and it's not a prank."

Lard Nar squared his shoulders and his eyes narrowed at Bann. He seemed determined enough.

"Whatever is on that disk, I want to see it."

"Fine," Bann said as he held his hand out for the disk. "Laes. It's not your job to protect Lard Nar."

Laes bit his bottom lip hard, still hugging the disk to himself. After a little while, he reluctantly handed it over to Bann who gave it to Lard Nar.

He just hoped his former cellmate would be able to handle those terribly graphic images better than he did.

It was a while later when Lard Nar returned from the computer with the disk in his hand. Laes had been looking for any kind of reaction from him, but it was hard to tell what his expression was from half-way across the room.

His former-cellmate hadn't jumped or cringed at all... Maybe Bann was right about others not reacting as badly...

Lard Nar didn't have a readable expression on his face when he returned the disk. He sat down on the cot, staring ahead, not really looking at anything in particular.

"That... that wasn't fake was it...?" he asked. "Those Irkens and Vortians getting tortured... it was real...?"

"There were Irkens getting tortured on this disk too...?" Laes questioned, looking down at the disk laying on top of the blanket.

He was having another 'I don't want to touch this' moment.

"It was on the back," Bann offered.

The ex-guard who was still in Filik's body hadn't gone very far. He was standing a little further down the hallway, but he approached the cot again when he noticed Laes and Lard Nar talking.

"As far as I can tell, it's real. It's similar to the disk I found when I was snooping around in Irk's top-secret heavily secured written vault a while back."

"If the Invaders were so advanced, why did they use disks and why is the quality so bad...?" Laes suddenly asked, curious. "Also the amount of video its holding isn't really a lot... this is like our most basic and outdated technology from like 500 years ago."

"These disks are nearly indestructible. They've lasted for thousands of years."

"Still..."

"Maybe they didn't want to use their best technology on foreign planets just in case it was stolen?"

"That makes a bit more sense..."

"Also I think our technology isn't very compatible with Invader technology, which could be why the quality is so bad, and it might also be why we can't currently access everything on the disks."

"Hold on... Bann... you're like Zim aren't you?" Laes asked, suddenly feeling concerned.

Did Bann consider himself an Invader? It was possible since the former guard didn't seem to care about the Empire.

"You kill your own people..."

Bann scowled and crossed his arms. His antennae lowered too.

"I have some Invader programming, but it's not enough to make me insane."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you calling me insane Laes, really?" Bann questioned.

He muttered something under his breath.

Then he spoke louder and with more clarity.

"You know, I only killed those soldiers because they were threatening you. They weren't bothering me at all. I actually played cards with a couple of them before."

"But if you ever saw an Invader... what would you do?" Laes pressed.

"I don't know," He shrugged before adding, "kill it with fire...?"

Bann winced and clutched his head.

"Shlit..." he swore under his breath.

"I thought I shut him out pretty good, but he's getting impatient again."

"How much time do you have?" Lard Nar questioned, reminding Laes that he was still there.

"A few hours maybe?" Bann responded and he breathed a sigh.

He rubbed some sweat from his forehead.

"But now that the computers are up and running, and Laes isn't in any danger of getting maimed, I think... I won't need to transfer to another PAK again."

"Having you stuck inside a computer would be a lot less creepy than the 'taking over bodies' thing you've been doing recently..." Laes commented.

Body snatching was really creepy... in a way, it was kind of what the Invaders had done to Vortians. Maybe he shouldn't be feeling like this, but he was glad Bann could only take-over other Irkens.

"I don't know if I want to give you full control over this facility though..." Laes continued, tapping his chin.

"That's fine," Bann remarked, shrugging. "I can always continue to haunt your dreams."

"Ew no."

"Why did you say 'ew?" Bann questioned, and one of his antennae twitched.

"I just... I don't think my dreams are going to be very good after watching that stuff..." Laes admitted, eyeing the disk warily as he clutched his stump.

"You were just sleeping Laes..." Bann reminded him. "It didn't look like you were having a nightmare."

"Fainting and sleeping are different..." Laes tried to argue. "Besides, bad dreams aren't something I can control, they just happen."

"Really?" Bann asked, and he gripped his chin lightly while studying Laes. "I don't remember entering a bad dream during your time on the jungle planet, or even after that."

Laes glanced at Lard Nar who was listening quietly with no readable expression on his face. At least he couldn't read the other Vortian's expression... he'd always had a hard time with that though, especially with Lard Nar.

"Could we maybe not talk about this right now?"

"Have you two always been like this?" Lard Nar asked.

For some reason the ex-leader of the Resisty's tone was becoming hard to distinguish too... maybe it was just his imagination?

Laes let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

"Bann always talked more than the other guards, but since he was usually on patrol with someone else we couldn't talk very much."

"I could never get Laes to shut-up," Bann responded smiling as he shrugged.

"I was bored."

"And needy."

"No I wasn't."

"You practically clung to me every time I checked on you."

"Th-that's a huge exaggeration," Laes stammered, and he pointed at Bann. "I never touched you. We just talked."

Bann patted him on the head. "There there. I'm not going to leave you alone again."

"You're like one of those vengeful ghosts in those movies I avoided seeing," Laes remarked, ducking and swatting his hand away.

"I'm a vengeful ghost that keeps saving your life," Bann remarked shrugging in an exaggerated fashion. "I keep putting myself in peril to save you, and you're comparing me to those horrible soul eaters?" He sighed and shook his head. "You're kind of rude. You know that?"

"They ate souls...?" Laes asked; his eyes widening in surprise. "Wait, you watched those movies?"

"We don't have conventions on Conventia everyday, and the space needed to be used for something..."

"Ok... but you're already dead. You keep telling me that all the time, so how much danger could you possibly be in?" Laes questioned.

He figured if anything happened to him right now, he'd end up getting Filik hurt or killed, not himself.

"Actually Laes..." Lard Nar interrupted, and both Laes and Bann turned to him. "If Bann's data continues to run off of incompatible technology; it won't be good for him."

Laes looked up at Bann who continued to smile.

"I wasn't going to say anything," the former soldier admitted. "But yeah. Every time I enter another Irken's PAK, or a computer, or anything similar, I lose a bit of data."

"Why weren't you going to say anything!?" Laes exclaimed.

He actually felt a bit offended by the Irken's unwillingness to talk about his problems.

Also why would Bann keep quiet in a room filled with intelligent people who could help him?

Hold on... did he just yell?

He covered his mouth.

Wow... there was no reason to yell at Bann like that... He didn't even like yelling.

"You need to tell me these things ok...?" he spoke as he lowered his hand back down.

"Laes..." Bann paused for a moment then sighed. "I'm dead. What I'm doing right now is not only cheating the Irken system, but also the system of life."

"I'm cheating the system of life too," Laes responded, suddenly feeling a bit stubborn. "If it wasn't for Irken and Vortian technology, I'd be just as dead."

"But I'm actually dead," Bann pressed, and he narrowed an eye at Laes. "I don't even have a body anymore. I'm just data."

"So were some members of the Resisty," Lard Nar spoke as he slid off of the cot.

He stepped passed Bann.

"Some of them were machines, but that didn't mean they weren't alive or that no one was impacted when they were killed..."

He continued walking towards the group in the cafeteria he'd been working with.

Lard Nar was probably talking about those floating robot guys. Most of them had been destroyed on the jungle planet. He was kind of curious to know if Lard Nar had built them or if they were an actual race of robot people from some kind of robot planet.

Now was probably not the right time to ask that question though.

Laes pulled out the crumpled note from the Tallest he'd been keeping in his pocket. He'd been hoping to avoid looking at where the worms were so he wouldn't freak out, but after looking around he realized that the planet's defence project was nearing the final stages, and with the Irken's Voot Cruiser it wouldn't take them long to set up the rest of the reception towers.

He smoothed out the note and flipped it over. Maybe there would be a pattern or... that was kind of strange... the worms seemed to have formed a giant circle.

In the middle of this circle was Irk...

Had the Tallest noticed? The circle wasn't exactly connected, and it wasn't exactly a circle actually... but still.

It seemed a bit ominous.

* * *

 **More Notes:** Invaders are based off of the Jewelled Cockroach Wasp. They're a type of parasitic wasp that are both creepy, cool to look at, and horrifying. It gives a more literal meaning when Zim says "I'll lay eggs in your stomach" in Attack of the Saucer Morons.


	20. Chapter 20

**Mechanical Problems**

Before Bann lost control of Filik's body, he handed the piece of the hologram device back to Laes.

It was a little strange watching the Irken navigator walk around in a daze for the next hour before shaking his head and finally snapping out of it.

Filik looked down at himself then glanced around as though he was making sure everything else was the same. He felt his arms and and held out his hands, flexing them a few times to assure himself he was back in control of his body.

Then he noticed the Irken pilot who was hanging around and decided to complain to her for a while.

At least Filik seemed to be alright. The navigator wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but he didn't deserve to be turned into a mindless drone.

Since the planet's defence barrier was nearly complete, some Vortians had begun working on repairing a few broken Spittle Runners the Irkens left behind.

Most of the vessels had been crushed and sliced apart... almost as if the worms had targeted them on purpose.

Why would the worms attack the ships though? They weren't moving or making any noise... maybe the creatures had been attacking so many Spittle Runners lately they just did it naturally as an acquired instinctual response?

...That could be it.

Then there was the sound of engines in the sky, and Laes looked up through the broken ceiling to see two Shuvvers descending.

Hold on... had the Tallest sent more Irkens? Were they soldiers too? Why? Was he hoping to regain control of Vort?

Before Laes' panicked brain could think through all of the possibilities, the other Vortians looked up and began pointing at the vessels and muttering among themselves.

Shuvvers were from the Armada though they probably could be driven by civilians too. They had a very strong laser beam that could burn the surface of a planet from space. These lasers could also disintegrate whoever got in their way.

All of the Irkens rushed to where the vessels were landing.

Darden and Lyra stood by one of them while Pain and Filik approached the other.

There was a single Irken in each vessel.

Laes decided to attempt getting a bit closer using his floating chair, and this time his parents made sure he didn't fall off of it when he climbed on.

Once he was seated and the controls were ready he tried moving it forwards... it already needed to be recharged?

Then a fight broke out.

All of the Vortians nearby fled from the area as the Irkens fought each other.

Darden and Lyra managed to pin one of the new arrivals down.

"Filik! Ryter! Get the other one!" Darden yelled right before the Irken beneath them deployed its PAK legs and broke free.

What happened to change the Tallest's mind this time?

It was funny how he no longer seemed to cower from danger... even right now he was thinking of running towards it. If his legs would work properly, and if he could actually help.

Why? What happened to his sense of self-preservation? Did almost dying a few times kill it?

Lard Nar was the only Vortian who didn't flee from the fight. He was also the only one who had a gun...

Where on Vort did he get that from?

He probably made it himself.

It actually would be good to build a few energy canons or something just in case the worms came back and managed to break through the barrier now that he thought about it... seriously though, why would the Tallest send just two Irkens to attack... it didn't make sense.

"It's ok son," his father tried to encouraging him. "Your Irken friends look like they're taking care of the problem."

"Can you get me a little closer?" Laes asked.

Maybe involving his parents like this was a bit too much.

He looked at his mom who was standing on his left-side.

Felara didn't look worried at all. She never really did actually... she was generally the voice of reason who had no problem talking his father out of different problems.

His father was just smiling.

"I had a feeling you might ask that. Yeah ok. I'll push you over there," his father responded, and he began to push Laes' floating chair closer to where the fight was happening.

Maybe he should have installed some blasters on the chair... that would've been helpful.

"It's ok Freedo, I've got him," Veena interrupted, and of course his father easily relinquished the chair to her.

His parents were like that... always hopeful that every girl (and guy apparently) might be 'the one' for him.

At least they weren't being overly smothering about it.

They didn't have to wink and giggle like school-aged Vortlings though.

"Why are you reckless even though you're weak and crippled?" she asked him, sighing. "You know you'll just be getting in the way right?"

Her words were kind of harsh, but true.

She only took him a little closer so he could better watch the fight.

Darden had broken three of the other soldier's four PAK legs and was holding the Irken's arms down while Lyra used her own metal limbs to dislodge his PAK.

Filik was tossed aside pretty easily... maybe it was because of the confusion of having been taken over by Bann not long ago?

Pain was trying to hold the other Irken down on his own, but even though his leg had been replaced with a metal one he was still favouring that side.

A well placed kick to Pain's hip caused him to lose his balance and fall to the floor.

The attacking soldier brought out one of its PAK legs to stab him, but Lard Nar shot the enemy Irken a few times. This caused enough of a distraction for Pain to jump back to his feet and launch another attack.

At this time, Lyra had successfully separated their attacker's PAK.

Darden landed a solid blow to the soldier's head, making sure this hostile Irken fell and didn't get up before rushing to help Pain.

Lard Nar did a rather impressive side-roll to avoid being struck by one of the assailant's PAK legs while Pain deployed his own metal limbs to contend with the other soldier's.

Without hesitating, Darden swung his elbow into the attacking soldier's face, knocking the threat's head back and using the momentum to tackle the Irken to the ground.

"Go for his PAK!" Darden insisted as he managed to roll the hostile soldier on top of him while keeping a firm grip on the assailant's arms.

Pain tried to use his metal limbs to stab at the enemy's PAK, but each blow was deflected by the other's metal limbs.

Lard Nar moved a bit closer with his gun drawn and fired two rounds at the Irken's PAK. This seemed to stall the soldier's metal limbs which then gave Pain time to cut into the other's PAK which caused a decent amount of damage.

The Irken instantly went limp.

Darden flung the unresponsive soldier off of him before sitting up and rubbing his cheek.

"Dlamn it... they were corrupt... both of them were corrupt..." he muttered.

Now that the two hostile Irken soldiers weren't moving, Veena pushed Laes closer to where the Irkens were gathering.

"What do you mean they were corrupt?" Lard Nar asked, lowering his weapon to his side.

Darden turned to him. "They were reprogrammed..." he sighed and shook his head.

"That one..." he pointed at the first Irken soldier he defeated.

"I saw the ship he was on get destroyed by the worms."

"We can fix them though, can't we?" Laes interrupted, and all of the Irkens turned to him.

Darden was glaring at him, but that wasn't anything abnormal.

Filik (who had just recovered), Lyra, and Pain were all giving him weird looks though.

"We've already tried that with defectives," Filik responded throwing his hands into the air. "I heard the Tallest talking to one of our engineers. He kept saying how impossible it was. The coding is way too strange, plus there are scrambled parts and parts that don't make any sense at all... I'm sure an Irken who's been reprogrammed will have it even worse!"

"Now I'm curious," Veena spoke as she walked over to Lyra who was still holding one of the PAKs. "Let me take a look. I'll let you know if fixing it is impossible or not."

"That goes against all of our programming!" Filik interrupted, and he stepped between Lyra and Veena. "You can't just look at our PAKs! Or touch them! All Irkens would rather blow up than to see our technology in the hands of..."

"I'm fine with it," Pain spoke, cutting off the navigator.

Then before Filik could start complaining again he continued, "if our own engineers couldn't figure it out, what harm can come from letting the Vortians try?"

"You are nothing but a spineless Vortian sympathizer!" Filix spat as he pointed an accusing finger at Pain. "Handing our PAKs over to the enemy is treason!"

"This is just..." Pain rubbed his head and heaved a sigh.

Then he squared his shoulders and glowered down at the smaller Irken.

"I may enjoy Negi's company, but you are nothing but a navigator and you dare talk to me like that?"

He pointed all of his PAK limbs at Filik.

The navigator's antennae flattened as he shrank away from the imposing guard.

"If you have any problems with how I'm conducting myself, feel free to take it up with the Tallest. He's the one who sent me here. But until then, if I hear another insult come from your mouth I will gladly tear out your tongue to silence you. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes..." Filik responded in a small nervous voice.

"If you do end up doing that, do it in another room," Darden told Pain calmly.

He gestured at Laes who was staring at Pain with wide eyes.

The Vortian's face had gone a few shades paler since he was in the middle of remembering the torture he'd experienced... at least fainting had saved him from being able to remember most of it.

Pain ran a hand down his face.

"Yeah. I will... don't worry about it."

He approached Laes and extended his other hand to him.

"While you were in prison I wasn't very kind to you. What I did went beyond maintaining peace and order... but I hope we can work together now despite my previous actions."

He glanced at Lard Nar.

"It's the same for you."

"That's in the past now," Lard Nar told him, placing his gun away.

It looked like he had made a holster too.

"Um yeah," Laes agreed without giving the Irken's words a lot of thought, and he reached to accept the the former guard's hand.

Somehow he was able to look Pain in the eye without feeling like he should run or faint or just stammer nervously.

"... are you joking with me right now?" Pain asked, raising an invisible brow.

Laes glanced at his hand and found he'd accidentally reached with his stump instead. He quickly withdrew it and held it to his chest.

"No, um, that was... an accident... sorry.."

"You're a weird one," Pain admitted patting him on the shoulder before turning to rejoin Negi who was being kept away by another Vortian.

"Why did he say that?" Veena questioned, and Laes sank a bit in his chair.

"Pain is the one who maimed us," Lard Nar answered.

His words were so uncaring sounding, it almost sounded untrue... but it was true.

Maybe the first thing he should do is to start thinking of "Pain" as Ryter. Then maybe he wouldn't get so anxious around the former guard.

"If you really want to fix these corrupt soldiers, I will need to return his PAK," Lyra said, looking down at the PAK in her hands.

"I'll tie him up," Darden offered, and they walked over to the fallen PAKless soldier together.

"Well... I guess you'll be busy for a while, right Veena...?" Laes remarked, managing a smile.

Veena approached him and her face was suddenly inches away from his.

"Don't you mean we will be busy?" she asked with a smirk, and she chuckled when Laes recoiled away from her.

"Heh heh..." Laes managed a chuckle before turning to Lard Nar who met his gaze and shrugged.

The former leader of the Resisty wasn't going to help him at all... and was he smiling? He was smiling... great.

At least Lard Nar seemed to be ok with Irkens right now.

Actually, this whole situation reminded him of old times when Miyuki used to be around and Irkens and Vortians were working together. It was kind of nice after all of the unnecessary death and imprisonment that a terrible misunderstanding caused...

Filik's communicator suddenly started going off, so he pulled it out of his PAK and answered it.

At first he looked stunned.

"Yes sir? What can I do for you my Tallest?"

Then his expression fell and he walked the device over to Laes.

"It's for you," he said, holding out the communicator without making eye-contact.

It kind of looked and sounded like he was pouting?

Laes accepted it and was surprised to see that the Tallest was in fact on the other end.

"I don't know if they're after just Irkens or if they'll be going after your people too, but they're using the worms to herd us like animals... so build as many ships as you can. Send the Irkens away if you have to."

Wait.. what? What was the Tallest talking about?

"Also, if anymore Irkens land there I haven't sent them. You need to kill them quickly," Irk's leader paused. "...Well, not you specifically. Get someone else to kill them."

"Uhh..." Laes' brain spun in circles for a few moments.

"Yes?" he finally responded. "But what's going on? Where are you right now?"

"They planned everything... even our hostility to each other. They wanted to weaken both Irken and Vortian societies. Irk is no longer... it's no longer Irken property. It belongs to them now. I've lost about half of my soldiers, but most of them exploded before they could be taken. At least there's that."

"Are you talking about the Invaders?" Laes questioned, managing to speak before the Tallest could start rambling again.

The Tallest stared at him for a brief awkward moment.

"What else would I be talking about?" His eyes narrowed. "You did watch the disk right? You didn't just faint right away did you?"

"Well um..." Laes rubbed the back of his head ruefully. "I saw some of it...?"

Either the Tallest ended the call or the transmission cut-out on its own.

Laes continued to stare at the black screen for a little while before handing the communicator back to Filik.

Lard Nar, Veena, and Filik had overheard this conversation. Everyone was was quiet for a while.

"So the Irkens took off to save themselves... that's just great," Veena commented crossing her arms before letting out a long sigh. "It's not surprising though."

"Irkens don't usually run away..." Laes commented.

He was worried. The Irkens were too proud to back away from a fight... but for some reason they were retreating.

Was their current enemy really that strong?

"If we're forced to flee, there are already a few working ships," Lard Nar looked towards the two Shuvvers the corrupted Irkens had been driving. "Including the shuvvers, the Spittle Runner, and the Voot Cruiser there's 4 of them."

"Those will hold maybe 30 of us..."

"There are thousands of Vortians in this section of the prison alone, so four ships won't really help us much..." Lard Nar admitted. "But it's all we have."

"The barrier is nearly ready so we can focus more on building them," Veena remarked. "Realistically it will take us at least a few months before we have enough space vehicles to hold even half of our numbers."

Everyone grew quite.

A few months was being optimistic. It would probably take a year or more in reality... the barrier they were making would have taken longer too if they weren't recycling the power and machinery the Irkens used to run the prison.

The electric barrier that had made up the cells would be amplified and spread across the entire planet.

Building ships took a lot more time and resources. Unfortunately they didn't have much of both right now.

"They've only been attacking Irkens so far anyway," Filik said, breaking the uneasy silence. "They might not even be after you."

"But if they are..." Laes shuddered as he tried to block out all of the horrible images that were burned into his brain.

He didn't want to think about it.

"If we can get these other Irkens working we might be able to find out," Veena spoke as she placed a hand on her hip.

She was watching Darden and Lyra tie up one of the corrupted Irkens with some thick cables.

Those probably wouldn't hold him for very long if he started struggling...

"The Tallest said to kill them," Filik stated. His antennae lowered and he scowled. "That means they're beyond salvaging, or at least the effort it would take to correct their programming won't be worth it."

"They could have information," Laes insisted, leaning forward a little in his seat. He grasped the armrest to make sure he wouldn't accidentally slide off. "So um... Keeping them alive makes the most sense."

Why did he always sound so unsure about things? He was sure about wanting to keep everyone alive. He was so sure he was almost about to fall off of his chair, but fortunately he was paying enough attention to slide backwards enough to keep himself from falling.

"It should be fine if Lyra and Darden keep an eye on them," Lard Nar said.

The ex-leader of the Resisty wasn't saying very much... maybe he wanted to disagree?

Lard Nar had a lot of reasons to hate the Irkens, yet despite listening to a conversation between him and the Tallest, his former cellmate's neutral expression hadn't changed at all.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for sticking around guys. I feel like I need to update more frequently to make up for the lack of updating I didn't do these past few months, so I'll keep doing that until I get distracted again.

* * *

 **What Makes an Irken?**

He was trying not to think too much. If he paused long enough to reflect over everything he'd learned recently he might start to feel something.

He was growing used to this numb feeling he had...

The Resisty was probably completely gone... he knew leaving his comrades behind to follow his own selfish ambitions would likely result in him never seeing them again, but he'd done it anyway.

Ixane was probably dead... he knew he should feel sad, but his mind wouldn't let him feel anything.

It was better to work. Keeping busy was the only thing holding him together right now.

Piecing together an Irken's PAK was the easy part. He'd already gotten most of the broken materials melded back together.

The internal structures of the machine, although complicated with all of the different devices Irkens were able to store in it, was also not that difficult to figure out, especially when using an intact PAK as a model.

Laes had helped him with some of the work, but now that there was more delicate smaller pieces to fit back in, the other Vortian decided to assist Veena with modifying one of the computers to make it compatible with an Irken PAK. This would require making a large cable; one that could successfully connect a PAK to the computer to transfer data and run the different programs infused into the PAK system...

He was working on the PAK for his own knowledge... there was no way it could ever be salvaged enough for it to operate again... but he figured it would be good for him to know how to fix a PAK just in case they came across one that was a little less shattered.

When he started the Resisty he never thought he'd end up working along side Irkens again.

He'd been grieving... and angry... how could the Irkens mercilessly slaughter his family and imprison his coworkers?

After all of those years of loyally serving the Empire, their homes were destroyed and they were locked up and forced to work with guards hovering over them, ready to punish them for any and every mistake.

There hadn't been much time to rest either which was probably why a few Vortians died of exhaustion during the first few months after the invasion...

Things changed a little afterwards, but then those special doors were put in place that would blow up any Vortian who tried to leave. It was almost like the Irkens were challenging them to escape, so some of them did.

He and about a dozen others managed to escape by concealing themselves deep inside garbage bins.

They'd done the calculations. The dense garbage would conceal their DNA...

What happened to the other Vortians after their escape plan succeeded, he wasn't sure... a few decided to stay on Foodcourtia. A few more left for one of Vort's formally allied planets.

The others though... they never said where they were going.

No matter what they decided to do, all of them were probably dead now.

The worms had likely devoured them all.

"Ok, we're ready to test it Darden," Laes spoke to the former soldier who seemed to be on standby.

"Good," Darden said as he pin-pointed Filik's location.

Before the navigator could flee, Darden caught him by the antennae.

The former soldier walked over to where Veena and Laes were, holding up his catch.

"Here's your test subject."

"Why me!?" Filik protested angrily. "If you want to help these Vortians go ahead, but leave me out of it!"

"It's getting noisy over there."

Lard Nar glanced up from his work when he heard this familiar voice.

It was Ryter... or "Pain" as the prisoners were used to calling him.

Unlike Laes, he'd been awake through the entire torture ordeal.

Ryter had been the one to remove his fingers... so being near the Irken was not something he enjoyed.

The guard who'd torn out his eye was dead at least.

Negi was sitting on the Irken's shoulders... the Vort-child was staring at him with big curious eyes.

The child probably wouldn't understand the Invasion or the hostility the Irkens had shown them.

Who knows how many times Negi had been zapped or beaten by the guards... yet there he was, sitting contently on Ryter's shoulders without any sign of fear or discomfort.

"Can I help you with something?" Lard Nar asked.

He was defaulting to professional mode since he was too tired to find the strength to be outwardly hostile.

Many races would find this concept of politely getting along with anyone strange or backwards, but it was easier for Vortians to act this way.

"I'm just showing Negi what you're up to since he was asking about it," Ryter replied, and he crouched down so he was eye-level with Lard Nar.

Negi seemed very interested in the mostly fixed PAK on the ground. He pointed at it and patted Ryter's PAK.

"Yes, it's the same," Ryter told him, managing a small smile.

"How long have you known each other?" Lard Nar questioned as he picked up a small pair of tweezers he would be using to attach the smaller pieces back together.

He was using a very powerful non-degrading glue rather than soddering since he worried he might accidentally melt the smallest parts.

"I've known Negi since shortly after the prison was first constructed," Ryter answered.

When the former guard offered no further information, Lard Nar prompted him, "how did you end up taking care of him?"

"Negi wouldn't eat anything the guards brought him," Ryter responded, glancing at the small Vortian who'd grabbed one of his antennae.

This seemed to cause the former guard some discomfort as he stopped talking for a moment and flinched. He didn't stop Negi from holding it though.

"It was bad enough the other guards decided to force feed him, but he didn't get enough to sustain himself. The warden told us if Negi didn't improve he'd be vaporized so..." He sighed. "I wanted to prove myself anyway, and it seemed like a good enough opportunity. I began bringing him food, but he still wouldn't accept it."

He chuckled and carefully shook his head so his antenna wouldn't get pulled too much."I tried yelling at him, threatening him; I even zapped him a few times. Nothing was working, so finally I gave up and sat there with him without saying anything."

He reached behind him and maneuvered Negi into his arms though the young Vortian refused to let go of his antenna.

"I just pushed the food tray over to him, and he pushed it back. We did this for quite a while until they needed me on patrol again. I could never spend more than a half of an hour with him... the next time he started pushing the tray to me almost right away. I told him that this time I wanted him to eat some of it, and he gave me this look that said 'if you want me to eat it you're going to eat it first.'"

He poked the Vort child in the forehead.

"I'd never met such a cheeky Vortling..."

Negi laughed.

"Yes, it was very funny," he squinted down at the young Vortian. "He got me to eat it first, every day, for about a week before he finally decided to eat it on his own."

The Vort child patted his face lightly with his free hand.

"Thanks, but comforting me isn't necessary."

"It seems you understand Negi pretty well," Lard Nar commented.

He turned the light he was using back on. It was a small battery operated light he strapped to his forehead with some wire. That way both of his hands would be free. If he had all of his fingers he'd be faster... but at least he still had both of his hands...

Ryter had also cut off Laes' hand.

"Maybe..." Ryter sounded unsure.

The former guard placed Negi on the ground, and the young Vortian finally let go of his antenna.

"He talks to me, but he won't talk to anyone else... judging from what I've seen with other Vortians, this isn't normal behavior."

"He wasn't allowed to speak to other Vortians for a while, so he probably just needs some time to adjust..." Lard Nar concluded without giving it too much thought.

There were probably an assortment of emotional and attachment issues going on for the young Vortian, but he wasn't in the right mindset to figure out what they were.

Ryter wouldn't understand any of that anyway...

"I'll seriously self-destruct if you keep pestering me!" Filik insisted.

As soon as he heard that, Ryter's expression darkened. His antennae flicked back and he clenched his teeth before striding over to the navigator who'd broken free from Darden and had his finger on his self-destruct button.

The guard snagged Filik by the shoulder as he reached to grab the Irken's wrist. He pulled the navigator's hand away from the button and pinned him to the ground, kneeling on him so he couldn't move.

"If you're going to keep spouting nonsense I'll!"

Ryter stopped.

His crimson eyes shifted to Negi who was watching him nervously now. The small Vortian was clasping his hands in front of him and shrinking away.

"I'll take it away from you," Ryter said in a much calmer voice.

"Wait! I didn't mean it I... I just really don't want to help!" Filik insisted, and he began squirming to get away.

"I'll knock him out," Darden offered.

"Ok, um... maybe forcing someone to do something against their will isn't the best idea maybe?" Laes spoke, and he managed to take a few steps away from his floating chair. "If Filik doesn't want to help he doesn't have to. We'll just have to skip the testing and move onto the real thing..."

"It would be better to test it first..." Darden said. Then he added, "If they have information, then it should be extracted correctly."

"Filik is the shortest Irken, so he should just do it..." Pain stated, shoving the navigator's face into the floor.

"Well um... since your society collapsed... does the height thing really matter right now?" Laes tried again.

"It would be better to test it on someone willing," Lard Nar decided to back up the other Vortian. "They'll likely gain better results that way."

"Test it on me then," Pain offered, and he slowly let Filik up.

The navigator sprang to his feet and ran a good distance away before stopping and turning to face them.

"I swear you guys are all crazy!" He exclaimed.

"You're the one embarrassing yourself," Lyra told him, shaking her head.

The pilot was standing beside Darden.

Lard Nar decided to tune them out at that point. There was no reason to continue watching them.

It looked like Negi was joining him anyway. The Vort-child was too young to have been taught very much, but he seemed interested in the process of fixing the Irken's PAK.

He pulled the light he had strapped to his forehead and held it out to Negi.

"Hold this," he said, and the Vortling carefully took it from his hands. "You'll need to hold it close or I won't be able to see what I'm doing," he explained to the child who nodded eagerly as he crouched down beside Lard Nar and scooted in closer.

–

"So... the test will be to see if we can access your memory files... so your privacy will definitely be violated," Laes explained to Pain... Ryter.

His name was Ryter. He needed to remember that.

Pain wasn't as tense as he was when he'd been about to beat Filik and his expression was definitely lighter now.

He glanced over at Negi and sighed.

"Yeah. That's fine with me."

"You're sure?" Laes asked.

He was starting to feel uncomfortable about the process now since he might accidentally see something he didn't want to see... like the torture.

Would it be rude of him to let Veena take over from here...? He looked at her, and their eyes met briefly before he quickly turned away.

"It can't be any worse than an existence evaluation," Ryter remarked, shrugging.

Oh right. Irkens were put on trial to determine whether or not they should remain activated.

He'd heard about it a few times before.

Apparently it happened to all of them eventually.

"But um..." Laes was trying to think of an excuse not to do it.

"We have his consent," Veena said. "We shouldn't waste this opportunity."

"Yeah... You're right..." Laes agreed, forcing a smile. "Let's do it then."

Even though he said that, he couldn't imagine actually sticking around to watch. He didn't want his hand getting chopped off to suddenly appear on the monitor.

After hooking Pain's PAK to the computer with the cable however, he remained standing there like an idiot.

Was he really curious enough to inflict even more mental trauma on himself...?

Of course he was...

At least if it got too graphic he would faint. Thank whoever created the universe for that.

Not surprisingly it took another few hours to properly sync Pain's PAK with the computer. There were tons of error messages and "non-compatible formatting" pop-ups.

Once they'd cleared those and reformatted some of the data they were able to get the screen up that should, in theory anyway, show the memories stored in the attached PAK.

Pain seemed to be taking the delays pretty well too. He hadn't moved very much, and he hadn't complained at all.

"Yes! Running water is ours! Ha ha ha!"

And his dad was leading some kind of celebration near the middle of the room... did they get the water working? Even if they did, how much water was left in the underground aquifers?

It should probably only be used for drinking... and now his father was dumping a bucket of water over someone's head.

Where was mom? She was the only one who could reign his father in when he got like that.

"Laes... if you're not going to pay attention then let me take over..." Veena told him flatly, and she gestured at the monitor which had started flashing blue and black.

"But I didn't..." how was it like that? He hadn't touched any buttons or anything.

"It looks like Irken PAKs have an automatic defense system... his programming must have recognized the recovery program from the computer and is taking steps to sabotage it..."

"Um... yeah ok. Then go ahead..." Laes said as he slid off of the normal chair he was currently sitting on.

Veena had been standing next to him this whole time, offering advice and input.

This was her area of expertise, not his.

"Alright," Veena agreed, taking his spot.

She'd been standing pretty close to him... they'd nearly been shoulder to shoulder. Normally this kind of close proximity to a female would have turned him into an overly self-conscious fool who couldn't speak much, but he'd been too distracted by their current project to notice until just now.

"This might take a few minutes."

While he waited for her to finish he decided to see how Lard Nar was doing.

On his way there he bumped into another Vortian.

They were smaller, and he glanced at their number. 12001?

Their horns were small white and bent a little backwards and their skin was a light blue color.

"Oops, sorry," she apologized, although Laes was pretty sure he'd been the one to walk into her.

He wasn't exactly the best at walking a straight line right now. His legs and back were beginning to hurt again, but if he took too many pain meds then he wouldn't be able to walk at all.

"That's ok..." he said, and he carefully stepped around her this time.

His attention returned to Lard Nar who was showing Negi one of the Irken's PAK leg attachments.

He heard someone following, so he stopped and turned to see the girl walking behind him for some reason.

He waited, expecting her to continue by him, but she stopped too.

"Do you need something...?" he asked.

She looked kind of young. Maybe she was looking for her parents? Hopefully her parents were still alive... if not then this was going to get very awkward and sad very quickly.

"I'm just watching what you're doing with those," she pointed at Pain's PAK.

"Oh... we're just trying to figure some stuff out so..."

The girl smiled. "You're working a lot. Everyone is. Even the Irkens are helping."

"Yeah," Laes agreed.

After everything the Irkens had done to Vort and his people it was a pretty nice change.

"Mother said Irkens wouldn't help anyone. She said they're too selfish and destructive."

"Yeah, they are, but they can be helpful sometimes too, " Laes responded, managing a smile.

"I'm Laes," he decided to introduce himself.

She didn't look nervous but still, an introduction wouldn't hurt.

"What's your name?"

"I'm called..." she hesitated for a moment. "Chakri."

He'd never heard that name before. Maybe it was a foreign name? It wasn't too uncommon for Vortians to name their children after off world things or places.

"That's an interesting name," he commented.

Her light blue cheeks flushed pink.

"Is it weird?" she asked, fidgeting.

"Um... well it sounds foreign, but that's not a bad thing," Laes replied, glancing at Lard Nar again. "Anyway, I can help you find your parents if you're looking for them."

"That's ok. I know where mother is," Chakri responded.

She suddenly grabbed his bad arm and stared at his stump.

"Oh wow. Your hand is gone! What happened?"

Laes jerked his arm out of her hold and nearly fell over when a flash of pain shot up his spine. He let out a whimper as his legs managed to catch himself.

That really hurt...

If he fell down he probably wouldn't be able to pick himself back up for a long time.

That would've caused some problems... and a lot of awkwardness.

He sucked in a breath before grinding his teeth.

The pain would let up soon. Very soon.

He probably needed some more pain meds...

"Is your back hurting you too?" Chakri questioned; her eyes wide in surprise or concern maybe? "That's not good. You should get those fixed."

"I uh..." his breathing was almost back to normal.

He swallowed. His throat was dry. He should probably drink something soon too.

"It can't be fixed... I mean... maybe before the invasion it could have... but we don't really have a lot of options right now since whatever the Irkens didn't destroy the worms did..."

"Really?" she tilted her head curiously. "You don't have any medicine?"

"I have some..."

This child kind of reminded him of Juelee and his younger sister and his niece... maybe that's why his heart was starting to feel heavy.

"Ok, so, when you run out what will you do?" she asked.

He would panic or faint probably but he didn't really want to say that.

"I'll um... think of something," Laes told her with a smile. "Anyway, are you sure you don't need help finding your mom?"

"No, I want to watch you guys right now. She said that's ok, but I need to take pictures too."

"Ah... ok... why?"

"Because what you're doing looks interesting, and she wants me to show her," she replied, pointing at Lard Nar who was still painstakingly trying to piece together the smashed bits of the second Irken's PAK.

Negi was sitting close by watching him work.

The young Vortian's shoulders were drooping and he looked like he was about to nod off.

"If you do it like that it's going to take forever you know," Chakri told him.

"Yeah... probably... but with most of our technology being broken..."

"I've got it working," Veena announced.

Pain was looking over her shoulder now at the screen. It sounded like something was playing.

"Um, Lard Nar, do you want to watch?" Laes asked before he could remind himself that Lard Nar had experienced the torture without being able to escape by fainting.

He doubted his former cellmate would want to watch what happened again if it happened to play that part which it probably would.

"No thanks," he responded without any kind of emotion in his voice.

The former leader of the Resisty kept his head lowered so it was difficult to make out his expression.

"Ok... that's fair," Laes turned around and started back towards the monitor.

Chakri was still following him he realized, so he paused in mid-step and nearly lost his balance again because of the pain. Wincing, he looked at the Vort child who was smiling happily.

"Um uh... Chakri... this isn't something for children... you should really go back to your mom," he told her; trying not to sound too harsh. "She's probably worried about you ok?"

"Well..." the Vortling tapped her chin. "Yeah, ok," she suddenly agreed before scampering off.

"Laes, I need you to bring the intact PAK here," Veena said.

"Y-Yes, coming," Laes stammered as he hurried over to the tied up and seemingly unconscious Irken.

Lyra had reattached his PAK so he wouldn't die... hopefully whatever they were searching for could be found in under ten minutes.

He wrenched the device off of the soldier, and this time he did end up falling on his butt. He had to use the PAK to push himself off the floor, and his injured spine protested when he attempted to lift it.

Then Darden who'd been watching from a short distance away approached him and took the PAK from his arms.

"If you need help, ask," the ex-soldier insisted.

"Sorry," Laes automatically apologized.

Darden carried the heavy metal device over to Veena who took it and set it down on the desk without straining herself at all.

When he heard the screams he couldn't make himself look at the screen... but it didn't last very long.

He heard a sigh coming from the monitor, so he risked looking.

 _Pain was standing outside an electric barrier. His gaze fell but he quickly looked up again. The former guard was wiping some blood from his gloves. Then he tucked the bloody cloth away and parted the force-field._

 _Pain sat down beside Negi, making sure to keep some distance. He looked down at his hands, there was still some blood between his gloved fingers, and sighed again._

" _Sometimes I wonder if..." his voice petered out as he hung his head._

 _When he looked up again Negi was scooting closer._

" _Following orders never used to be this difficult..."he admitted._

 _The Vortling grabbed his glove._

" _Negi... I need to keep this on."_

 _The young Vortian tugged on it until it started coming off._

" _I'm serious..." he yanked his hand away. "It's mine. You can't take it."_

 _Negi scowled and pointed at his gloved hand. "It's not you."_

" _This is me," Pain insisted; his voice lowering as he continued to speak. "I'm a guard... I follow orders... if the Tallest told me to hurt you I would..." he paused and shut his eyes. "I would... dlarn it... I wouldn't want to, but I would do it... this isn't just a job for me. This is my life. This is who I am. Understand?"_

 _His eyes snapped open._

" _Negi! Stop trying to take my glove off!" he insisted in a loud and harsh tone._

" _It's not you!" Negi yelled back as he managed to pull the glove off._

 _He flung it away and started to cry._

" _Oh Flurking dlarn it..." Pain grumbled._

 _He reached for Negi with his bare hand and he placed it over the Vortian's much smaller hand._

" _You don't even know what I have to do everyday... there's no reason for you to cry."_

 _Negi sniffled as he peered up at Pain with tears streaking his face._

" _You don't cry.." he whimpered. "I cry... you don't..."_

Both Veena and Laes turned to look at Pain.

The Irken met each of their gazes before shrugging his shoulders.

"Negi is a lot more stubborn than I am," he admitted.

Pain wasn't embarrassed by his words or actions. He didn't seem to care whether or not they saw him expressing what Irkens would consider weakness towards his enemy.

His Tallest and his Empire would have considered him defective... he probably would have been demoted at the very least.

"It works," Veena stated, deciding not to ask any questions about what they'd seen. "It's time to try it on this one," she tapped the PAK sitting on the desk.

Once Pain was unhooked from the cable, she attached it to the detached pak. At first the video showed just static.

Then the screen flickered.

 _There was nothing but darkness... then came a blinding white light._

" _What... what is this...?" the Irken spoke; his voice sounding hoarse._

 _There were other voices, but they were speaking a different language._

" _What are you... what are you doing...?"_

 _The figures were a translucent blue-green colour. They were hovering over him._

" _What are you!? Why are you doing this!?" the Irken screamed._

 _There were tearing sounds._

" _Stop!"_

 _Then the video screen returned to static._

Laes' clutched his chest. Breathing had suddenly become difficult for him.

The Irken appeared to be unable to move... just like in the video he watched when the Vortians were...

And now he felt sick.

"There are no other memories..." Veena said.

She must have hit replay or something because the same scene started playing out again.

Pain was studying the images carefully. He rubbed his chin.

"Well, it sounds like they forced their way into his PAK, so he was definitely reprogrammed against his will."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Laes asked, looking up at the former guard who glanced down at him.

"This something we've been expecting for a long time..." Pain responded.

He wasn't tense and his antennae remained sitting in a relaxed neutral position.

"Now that it's happening... our worst fears have been confirmed... how am I supposed to react?"

There was no point in panicking... nothing would get done if they panicked about it. That's what Pain was saying probably.

"There is nothing in his personality drives either..." Veena spoke.

She seemed intent on continuing the search despite her doubts.

"There's no memories... no personality... all I can find is a long complex command code... it's encrypted so well it will take me days or maybe weeks to figure this out..."

"Should we figure it out...?" Laes asked.

What if hacking it caused the Irken to self-destruct or something?

That would be pretty bad.

"It's how they're moving... they react based off of this code I'm sure, but I can't decipher the actual code its self... and I can't rewrite it at all in this format... also there is a chance whoever coded this may have included some kind of fail safe that could wipe all of the data or even start a hidden program if compromised..."

"So... can we help him...?" that's all he really wanted to know right now since all of this information was beginning to give him a headache.

"Maybe...? He won't ever be the same, but I might be able to reboot the learning and experiential operatives. The problem lies with the foreign program its self... I'm not sure what's in it, so it may counteract anything I try to do."

Laes rubbed his temples. "That sounds like a pretty big problem."


	22. Chapter 22

**The Great Return**

Because Bann was currently trapped in the holo-device, Laes had to figure out how to administer the proper dose of medicine himself.

He tried to at least find a vein, but getting the needle to prick the right place was hard with his hands shaking.

Eventually he managed to do it after jabbing himself a few times first.

There was only a little bit of medicine left. The bottle was almost empty. He might have enough for one more dose, but after that he'd have to cope with the pain on his own.

He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do that... his body would probably send him into a coma before it allowed him to feel that much agony.

"Can I see?"

He dropped the container and the needle in surprise. They clattered to the floor as he quickly turned to see Chakri watching him from a short distance away.

Still shaking, he ran his hand down his face as he slowly and carefully crouched down. He reached for the container and the needle since he didn't want to leave either of these things lying around.

"I thought you were..." Laes sighed. "Where's your mom?"

"She's busy right now," Chakri responded before stepping a bit closer.

She reached out for the medicine bottle, and he let her take it.

Chakri really was a curious girl... she squinted as she read over the label.

"Did you get this from the Irkens?" she asked.

"Yeah... um... Filik gave it to me," he responded. "He's over there," he gestured to the navigator who was sitting down the hall a ways, reading another magazine or something.

"And in those pictures an Irken was being nice to a Vortian too," she commented as she handed the bottle back. "I thought they were too much machine, but it looks like they can be nice too."

"They can be nice sometimes..." Laes responded, and he placed both the needle and the bottle under the cot's mattress.

Hold on... was she talking about the video? Had she been watching? Did she see the part where the Irken was screaming because of the Invaders?

"Um... Chakri... how much did you see?"

"I saw all of it," she stated.

"All of it...?" Laes repeated in disbelief. "Then... the part where the Irken was... um... with those glowing people..."

"He was reprogrammed right?" Chakri offered.

She sounded very matter-of-fact... almost like... Juelee.

"Yes, but... you shouldn't really be watching that kind of stuff..."

She tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Um... because... you're a child and... well... children shouldn't watch scary things..."

"It wasn't scary though."

He rubbed his head and let out a long sigh.

This girl reminded him a lot of Juelee who reminded him of his sister and his niece... he really shouldn't be trying to form these connections anymore... he couldn't help it though.

He'd grown up with his younger sister. His niece was adorable and he loved her too.

That's probably why he became attached to Juelee so quickly...

If he wasn't careful he'd start fretting over Chakri too. Then if she died...

Wow. Ok. Why was his brain thinking like that?

He shook his head to clear it.

"I look young, but I'm old enough to do stuff by myself," Chakri insisted. "Mother even gave me..." her expression lifted. "I'll be right back."

She turned around and started running somewhere.

Laes watched her disappear into the large crowd of working Vortians.

Was he supposed to wait...?

He looked towards the computers and saw Veena had reattached the Irken's PAK.

She didn't sound very optimistic about finding a solution anytime soon.

Darden and Pain also made it perfectly clear that a reprogrammed Irken was better off dead.

He stood by his cot waiting for Chakri to return.

When she did, she was carrying something in her hands. It had glowing lights and it kind of looked like a gun of some sort with a dial. There was also an opening in the handle.

"I'm going to show you something really good," she said as she pointed the gun at herself.

Laes' first reaction was of surprise, but it hurriedly switched to concern.

"Should you be using..." he started, but then she pushed it against his arm and he felt a sharp prick.

"Ouch!" He recoiled and held his arm to his chest.

There was a small hole there, and it was starting to bleed.

"Chakri... what are you doing?" he asked.

Not only was that device probably a gun of some kind it was also sharp and pointy.

Children shouldn't be playing with something like that.

She turned it around and pointed it at him. One of her fingers was on something that definitely looked like a trigger.

His cowering response was starting to kick in. He'd already been shot once. He really didn't want to get shot again.

"Hold out your arm; the one without a hand on it."

"This is dangerous..." Laes pressed, and he took an uneasy step back. "You shouldn't be using... whatever that is..."

"Just hold out your arm," Chakri told him stubbornly. "It'll be fine. It only hurts a little."

"But..." he tried to protest, but her eyes narrowed at him.

He wasn't going to win any arguments with her. He could already tell.

"Ok... but you need to tell me what you're doing first... please?"

"I'm making you better," she replied.

"Making me better...?" he repeated.

With a gun? That seemed kind of strange... but then he'd never seen a device quite like the one she was holding.

Should he humour her?

What if she ended up shooting off his other hand though? Then he wouldn't have any left.

Still... she seemed very serious about it... he swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly stretched out his bad arm towards her.

There was a stream of white light. It was so bright he couldn't look at it.

He could feel his stump tingling. He had to resist the urge to pull it away.

Then there was a stinging sensation.

The light stopped and he clutched his throbbing stump close... except it was moving... and there were fingers... and a hand... and... what happened to his stump!?

"Ack!" he yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards which really hurt.

"Wh-what happened?" he stammered, looking down at Chakri who was smiling at him.

"This is my re-integrator gun," she explained, holding it up so he could take a better look at the device. "It has a biological setting and a non-biological one too. It can restore almost anything, but it only has four charges left because it's an older model."

"Ah...?" Laes attempted to use words, but he couldn't.

His mind was too busy running in circles. Flexing his fingers, he stared at this hand... it had the same skin colour and number of fingers.

Everything about it was perfect, and this freaked him out even more.

"It had to poke you to get your DNA, otherwise it wouldn't work."

"Where did you get that from?" Laes asked, using his new hand to point at the strange device she was holding.

"Mother gave it to me," she answered.

It sounded like she wasn't going to offer any kind of explanation.

"No, I mean..." he ran his new hand down his face.

It was definitely easier getting used to having it again rather than not having it.

"How do you have something like that? It can't be from Vort."

"It's not Vortian technology," Chakri responded, again without offering any more information.

That wasn't just something someone could pick up just anywhere. He'd never seen something like that before in his life, and since he was a Vortian engineer he'd seen a lot of things.

Something about this wasn't right.

"Chakri... where is your mother right now...?"

The young Vortian smiled.

"She's busy, but if you want to meet her I can call her."

She tapped her chin.

"Though mother said to only call after I send her lots and lots of pictures... I'm not sure I have enough yet."

"But... but shouldn't you be with your family?"

"Mother knows where I am," Chakri insisted, folding her arms as she frowned at him. "I'm old enough to decide for myself, so please don't treat me like a worm baby."

Worm baby...?

Zim was the only one who called Vortlings that.

His mind balked and he took an uneasy step back. There was no way Chakri was an Invader... she couldn't be... even her shadow was Vortian.

The technology she was holding was very advanced though.

It was possible she was using something similar to the hologram device, only much better.

"Are you and Invader...?" he asked her before he could think of stopping himself.

She frowned. "I don't know what that is."

He smacked himself in the forehead.

Of course 'Invaders' wouldn't actually call themselves that.

The name was originally used by pre-PAK Irkens who later unknowingly adopted the term for themselves when they began infiltrating planets.

"Ok... Chakri... I don't think you should show anyone else your re-integrator..."

Even if she was an Invader she was still a child.

The Irkens probably wouldn't see it that way though. They didn't seem to care whether someone was a child or not... everyone had been treated the same in the prison... except... there weren't very many children prisoners...

Maybe they were being kept in another wing?

His chest constricted. That had to be it... the children were just somewhere else...

It was getting difficult to breathe.

Negi was in this wing though... if the Irkens were keeping all of the children together they wouldn't have made such an obvious mistake.

Maybe... no... they couldn't be dead... not all of them..

"Ok, I'll go put it back," she agreed.

Her voice snapped him out of his darker thoughts, and he watched as she hurried away somewhere.

Oh shoot... he had to hide his hand too.

He quickly looked around and decided to tear a piece of the sheet off the cot and wrap it around his hand.

Hopefully no one would notice his hand had mysteriously regrown.

Breathing a sigh as he tied a knot and flexed his wrist. It looked like the fabric would hold for now, but even after all the practice he still wasn't a very good knot tier for some reason...

Suddenly he felt very tired. He clutched his head feeling extremely dizzy... the hallway was spinning.

He turned and reached for the cot, hoping to steady himself.

Then his vision blurred and he felt his face hit the cold hard ground before everything became black.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Confession:** I wanted to call this chapter: "the Great Return of Laes' Hand" but that would have been a spoiler, so I cut out the hand part. Oh haha, whoops. Dark humor.


	23. Chapter 23

**Them Among Us**

When he woke up he was lying in his cot.

Oh shoot... he fainted again...

There was a wet cloth on his forehead.

He reached to pull it off, and he dropped it onto the floor.

Why did he always have to keep fainting like this...? There wasn't even any blood this time...

His father was sitting beside him on a very shoddily built metal chair. He was leaning back, snoring peacefully.

Laes carefully sat up and blinked a few times to clear his vision. Then he looked at his former stump which had grown a hand. He sighed in relief; it was still covered.

Where was Chakri though?

He looked around but the lights were dim and a lot of Vortians seemed to be sleeping right now. The hallway was almost completely full of Vortians sleeping on cots, chairs, or the floor.

Only a few small groups were still in the cafeteria working.

"You dropped this," Chakri whispered, handing him the small piece of hologram device.

The young Vortian was standing beside his cot, leaning on the mattress.

"Sorry... sometimes regenerating body-parts makes people tired."

She hadn't been there a moment ago...

"Thanks..." he spoke, pocketing the incomplete device. He managed a smile. "I guess fainting was a bit of an overreaction..."

"No, not really. Sometimes people faint when their limbs suddenly grow back."

Really? Then his reaction was normal? It was difficult to tell what was normal fainting when he fainted for so many reasons.

Chakri didn't seem like a bad person... but she was also young.

What would Bann say if he was able to express himself right now...? He wouldn't trust the Invaders would he?

Or maybe he would. It was kind of hard to tell with Bann.

Why was he suddenly thinking about the digital Irken guard anyway?

His thoughts were all over the place. He needed to focus.

"Were you invisible just now?" he questioned since he needed to ground himself away from his thoughts.

"Yes, I'm usually invisible," Chakri admitted. "Because there are Irkens here, and mother says Irkens are dangerous."

"What do you think about Vortians...?" he asked, though he was a bit scared to hear her answer.

"Vortians are interesting because they have some of our DNA. At least that's what mother says."

"Oh... ok... so we're not... like... food?" he questioned her, feeling very uneasy.

His mouth was dry and he was hungry too. He should probably find something to eat or drink or both. Probably both.

Chakri's eyes widened. Was she surprised?

"No. Mother says you guys haven't been food for a very long time."

"Then we're safe?" he questioned, sounding hopeful. He gave her a hopeful look too.

"I don't think any of you are gonna die if that's what you mean," she responded with a small shrug.

Ok.. he needed clarification about that right now. Not dying wasn't exactly good news, not when they could still be used as experimental material.

"Sorry but... what do you mean?" he asked, hopefully in a non-offensive manner.

"I mean you guys are several steps above food already, so you won't get eaten."

"What about experiments?"

"I'm not old enough to know about that."

"Oh."

Chakri frowned a little. "It sounds like mother wants to talk to you guys, so maybe there won't be experiments."

"I don't understand..." he admitted, rubbing his good arm with his covered hand. Were he and his people safe right now or not?

"Vortians and Irkens are our responsibility since we made you both. We can't just leave you alone," she smiled. "That's what mother says."

"Please tell me what your people are planning to do with us Chakri..." Laes pressed, though he hoped he wasn't being too rude about it since her people could probably instantly kill him and all of his people.

He would beg if he needed to, though he wasn't sure if there was anything he or the other Vortians could do once he knew the answer...

"I don't know what will happen to your people, but the Irkens will be reclaimed and used for their intended purpose," she seemed happy when she said this.

Reclaiming the Irkens? So Invaders considered Irkens their property then?

"You mean as body-guards and soldiers?" he questioned.

That's what they were supposed to do before the PAK project failed right? He squeezed his eyes shut and held the side of his head for a few moments as he tried to remember that information... Bann really should have just told him instead of invading his dreams like that...

Chakri nodded.

"Yes, but they'll be under our control so they won't cause so many problems everywhere."

Honestly that sounded kind of nice, but at the same time it was also very concerning thought... The Invaders must have a ton of very advanced technology. They were already dangerous enough without subduing the Irkens.

"But... but Irkens are their own people... you shouldn't just take them and turn them into mindless drones..." he attempted to argue.

"Why?"

"Because they have their own thoughts and feelings about things..."

"They won't have those when we're done fixing them," Chakri responded as a matter of fact.

Oh dear Ganre... did all Invaders think this way?

"Laes? Who are you speaking to?"

That was Darden's voice.

He glanced towards the cafeteria and found the Irken approaching him.

His eyes flicked back to Chakri who was biting her lower lip and looking towards Darden with her hand resting on her arm.

It didn't look like there was anything there, but maybe there was some hidden technology only she could see... maybe it was some kind of death weapon! Darden could be disintegrated any moment and he wouldn't even know!

"Oh um, it's just me and... my friend here..." he replied, managing a smile.

He whispered to Chakri, "just try talking to him ok? Please? He won't hurt you."

Maybe he shouldn't have said that since he wasn't entirely sure Darden wouldn't harm her.

Still, he wanted her to see that Irkens weren't always scary, and they also didn't have to be dangerous, although they definitely could be (and usually were) both of those things.

Oh shoot. He really should have picked another Irken. What was he thinking?

Filik was rude and condescending, Pain used to chop off Vortian body-parts... maybe Lyra? She didn't seem overly hostile or violent.

Darden's boots clacked against the floor. Laes remembered when that sound used to make him shudder.

The Irken soldier stopped an arm's length away from Chakri who turned around and was now staring up at him.

"Umm... hi?" Chakri tried, keeping her hand hovering close to her arm.

She was holding it out in front of her in a defensive manner.

There definitely could probably be some kind of weapon on it.

The ex-soldier's eyes narrowed at her.

"I don't see any reason to greet you, but I will acknowledge you're here."

No... Darden... why did he have to be so unfriendly?

Laes covered his face with his visible hand as he crumpled a little.

"You can give me your name at least right?" Chakri pressed.

Laes was kind of impressed she was taking his suggestion to heart and trying to engage Darden in a conversation despite the Irken's dismissive attitude.

The soldier's antennae flattened as he glared at her. He crossed his arms.

"My name is Darden," he responded in his usual blunt manner.

Then his attention returned to Laes.

"If you're awake and able to move, Veena is requesting you..." his words stopped when Chakri touched his gloved hand. He jerked it away from her.

"Don't touch me," he insisted in a strong tone.

Chakri held both of her hands up and took an uneasy step back.

"You could be more friendly towards her Darden," Laes suggested to the obviously irritated former soldier. "She's just a child."

"Yes... an irritating child with no manners or sense of personal space..." Darden stated, and his antennae flicked forward as he rubbed the spot she touched with his other gloved hand.

He regarded Chakri again, "maybe your parents never taught you this, but not everyone likes to be touched."

"Oh come on... she's just being curious... ha ha..." Laes gave a weak laugh.

"I don't care," Darden responded. "I gave her my name even though it wasn't required... this was not an invitation for her to start touching me without my permission."

Darden was actually in the right...

Laes glanced between him and Chakri.

He wanted to say something to defend the Irken's point of view, but he was worried this might upset the hidden Invader and cause something bad to happen.

"I'm sorry," Chakri suddenly apologized. She dipped her head a little."You're right, I was wrong to touch you like that."

Freedo was wide-awake and sitting up straight in his chair now. He looked at his son, then Darden, then Chakri, then back at his son again.

He slid off his chair.

"I'll go find your mother," he decided to not so subtly bow out of the drama.

He glanced back at Laes.

"As long as you're ok."

"Yeah... I'm ok," Laes responded, and his father gave him a smile and a thumbs up before walking away.

When he noticed both Darden and Chakri were watching his father leave he replied, "he's used to me fainting so..."

Then he noticed Pain walking towards them with Negi in his arms.

Oh no.

Chakri had already noticed the other Irken. Hopefully she wouldn't panic and summon a hidden armada from somewhere to reign doom and destruction down on their already destroyed planet.

"Hey," Pain greeted them with a natural smile. "It's getting late, so I thought I would try to put Negi to bed."

"Yes, ok, here," Laes spoke as he pushed the blanket away and slid off the mattress.

Since a lot of Vortians were sleeping right now there probably wasn't any free cots left.

"You can use this cot um... I'm done fainting I think. I hope. For a while."

"Do you faint a lot?" Chakri asked, looking up at him.

"Um well... yeah... but it's gotten a little better..."

"He used to faint a lot more," Pain offered as he moved closer to the cot.

He placed Negi down on the mattress and the young Vortian grabbed his arm to get him to stay, but his focus shifted to Chakri.

"I don't recall seeing you in this wing," the former guard commented.

"I'm from the other wing," she explained without any hesitation at all.

"12001? You'd be from the third section."

"Yes, but I asked to come here in one of the ships we're borrowing."

"I see," Ryter didn't sound completely convinced, but he probably wouldn't think she was an Invader or something since he barely knew about them.

"Are you coming or not?" Darden asked Laes, crossing his arms as his antennae lowered.

"Sorry," Laes apologized.

He took a few steps towards Darden to test his legs since they hadn't been the most reliable lately.

"I'm coming er..." he turned to look at Chakri. "Are you coming too...?"

"Nope," Chakri responded, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling up at them both. "I'll stay here."

Laes wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or not, considering she wouldn't be watching them at the moment, but he also wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her either.

He didn't think he could tell Pain or Darden about her real identity, and his parents wouldn't understand. Veena wouldn't really understand either... she'd probably think he'd lost his mind...

There was only one person he felt comfortable talking about this with.

"Darden, can you tell Veena I'll be there a little later?" Laes questioned, and he shrank a bit when the Irken turned to glower at him. "I just want to talk to Lard Nar first, ok?"

His former cellmate never slept, so he was sure Lard Nar was awake right now anyway.

"Fine," Darden agreed, although he didn't took or sound too happy about it.

The Irken was cooperating at least, which was good because Laes didn't think he had enough energy to argue at the moment.

Darden continued towards the computers where Veena was still working.

Lard Nar had done what he could with the broken PAK and was currently involving himself in another project with the group of Vortians he'd been working with before.

Laes watched them for a while before deciding to move a bit closer.

"Hey um... Lard Nar," he spoke to his former cellmate who looked up from his work.

"Yes? What is it?" Lard Nar asked as he lowered one of his tools.

He looked Laes up and down. His expression stayed unreadable, but he motioned for Laes to come closer. Then he asked, "is something wrong?"

He wanted to blurt everything out to the ex-leader of the Resisty, but he also didn't want to alarm or confuse anyone.

"Can we talk in private...?" he questioned, glancing around at the few busy Vortians working nearby.

Lard Nar's expression still wasn't changing... he nodded though, and he dropped whatever he was holding, ready to follow.

Laes hurried into a nearby broken hallway that looked like the ceiling could probably collapse pretty soon. It was also dark, and dusty, and there were a lot of debris scattered on the floor.

There was no one here, or at least he couldn't hear or see anyone else.

"So um..." he needed to say it... even if it sounded crazy and Lard Nar didn't believe him. "There might be... an Invader... here..."

Lard Nar met his gaze. There was no judgment in they way he was looking at him... it was kind of a relief.

"What makes you think so?"

Oh right. He had proof.

He hurriedly undid his messy sheet wrap that was covering his new hand.

"Because one of them gave me this," he replied, holding out his hand and flexing his fingers for Lard Nar to see. "She used technology I've never seen before. It looked kind of out of date actually, but then it did this..."

Lard Nar stared wide-eyed at his fully functional 2nd hand. Then he reached out and grasped it with his own.

"This is real..." he realized in amazement. "It's not synthetic..."

"What do I do?" He was trying not to sound panicked, but it probably wasn't working. He was even starting to tremble a bit.

Chakri said Invaders no longer ate Vortians, but there was still plenty of room to imagine what they did or would still do.

If he told the Irkens about her they would likely confront her with force.

That could be a good or a bad thing depending on if they are able to cut-off her communication lines with her people... but then her people would probably come looking for her and that wouldn't be good... that really wouldn't be good...

"Laes," Lard Nar's calm but firm voice broke through his thoughts as his ex-cellmate's hand left his and clamped down on his shoulder. "Breathe."

He exhaled. His lungs were hurting. How long had he been holding his breath...?

"I don't know what you should do," Lard Nar admitted; his voice becoming quieter.

Laes felt his chest tighten as more anxiety settled in.

"But I think..." Lard Nar paused. Then he let out a sigh.

"I'm not trying to scare you... but if the Invaders placed one of their own here, I don't think there's anything we can do about it; not if their technology is as advanced as it sounds..."

Was this really how Lard Nar felt?

Oh gosh... his vision started to blur as his eyes filled with tears. He was going to cry.

Were they supposed to give up without a fight then...? Should they just resign themselves to their fate of being live incubators or experiments or whatever other horrible things he couldn't think of right now?

"Laes... it's ok..." Lard Nar tried to console him. His hand remained resting heavily on Laes' shoulder, offering him support. "She fixed your hand... they might not be here to hurt us."

Laes looked down at his "fixed" hand.

Maybe Lard Nar was right... but he couldn't get those terrible images out of his head...

Paralyzed Vortians forced to lay completely still, yet still awake, had eggs implanted inside their bodies... when the eggs hatched... he shuddered and hugged himself.

Tears spilled down his cheeks.

He couldn't stop himself from crying.

He couldn't stop the Invaders either.

"We can only do what we can do..." Lard Nar told him, and he slowly pulled Laes into a hug.

"Keep working with Veena to help that Irken. The barrier for our planet is finished. We are currently working on an energy amplifier to maintain it. There are at least a dozen ships being built right now, and our communications with the other sections of the prison are back online... these things... they aren't meaningless..."

Lard Nar was leaning on him pretty heavily.

The other Vortian's grip slackened and Laes grasped his arms to keep him from falling. There were dark circles under Lard Nar's closed eyes, and his former cellmate was looking very pale.

He was probably exhausted since he hardly ever slept and Laes couldn't remember seeing him eat anything lately.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Laes asked.

Lard Nar kept quiet... he wasn't unconscious though. He was never unconscious...

Laes sighed. So much for crying... he couldn't have an emotional breakdown when Lard Nar was having a physical one.

"You need to eat and sleep Lard Nar."

"I want to..." Lard Nar admitted. He was trying to take a step back so he could try standing on his own, but Laes wasn't letting him. "But every time I try... I can't..."

"Eat or sleep?"

"Both..."

"Oh."

That was a problem... Laes carefully released Lard Nar who teetered unsteadily on his feet for a moment before regaining his balance.

"Do you know why?"

"Yes..."

"Can you tell me?"

Lard Nar's gaze lowered and he hugged himself and rubbed his arms.

"There are too many Irkens here..." he admitted.

Of course. How could he be so stupid? Lard Nar had been tortured much longer and worse than he'd been... his ex- cellmate had lost far more to the Irkens than he ever had.

Even though Pain, wait no, his name was Ryter, Darden, Lyra, and Filik were cooperating with them right now, this couldn't erase everything that happened in the past.

"Could you sleep if someone stayed with you?" Laes questioned.

He was pretty sure that despite all of the harassment from the Irken guards, Lard Nar had actually slept a couple times in prison.

The prison was destroyed now and the only guard left was P-yter. Ryter.

Filik was keeping his distance since Darden threatened to have him used as a science experiment so... oh. Darden. The former soldier had been hanging around Lard Nar a lot lately...

"It's fine," Lard Nar insisted, rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine. Just... I'm not really used to being in combat anymore... it took more out of me than usual."

"Were you going to be a planetary protector like your dad?" Laes questioned.

"It was my original plan, but I was also looking into being a local peace-keeper," Lard Nar admitted, offering a small smile.

His eyes were looking far away... maybe he was having a flash-back or something.

"What made you decide to become an engineer instead?"

"The economy."

Ah... right... the economy...

With Irk investing so much in their science and engineering departments, anyone who wanted to make a good amount of monies had to become an engineer or scientist.

There wasn't a lot of demand for protectors, and those who did go into that field wouldn't make very much monies.

Besides, most Vortians were naturally clever, not naturally combative, and being mentally and physically equipped to deal with violence took a whole lot of time, effort, and training.

That wouldn't have been so bad if they pay was better. Then it would have been worth it.

"I wanted so badly to follow in my father's and brother's foot-steps..." Lard Nar admitted, placing a hand on his cheek. "But then my mother got sick. She was the only one who earned a decent wage."

He shook his head as he lowered his arm back down.

"I quickly realized that if I wanted to afford to look after my family I couldn't be a peace keeper or a protector, and there hadn't been any openings for soldiers in months... I was just starting my second year of combat training, so I withdrew and began an apprenticeship under a family friend instead."

"To be an engineer?" Laes guessed.

Lard Nar nodded. "If I hadn't become a recognized engineer..." His smile faded. "I probably would have been killed with the rest of my family..."

He lowered his gaze and bit his lip.

"Sometimes I..." he hesitated before continuing. "Sometimes I wish I was..."

There was a long drawn out awkward pause as Laes struggled to find something to say.

"But then I would've missed out on this," Lard Nar managed another smile as he motioned towards the cafeteria. "The Irkens aren't occupying our planet anymore, and everyone is working together to preserve what's left of our people and our planet."

Laes smiled back at him. Lard Nar was right. What they were doing right now wasn't meaningless.

He shouldn't be fretting over something that hadn't happened yet.

"Were you always planning on being an engineer?" Lard Nar asked him.

Right... since Lard Nar shared so much personal information with him he should probably do the same.

His work story wasn't nearly as interesting though.

"I uh... kind of wanted to be a data control specialist."

It was a fancy name for someone who sat behind a computer and maintained and corrected data streams.

"I figured it would be an easy way to make ok monies, and I've kind of always liked the idea of having a desk job."

This was probably because he wasn't very strong and when he thought about professional engineering he pictured having to build gigantic ships and killer robots and stuff and having to climb ladders and lift heavy objects, and measure, and climb some more all day long... which was kind of true but there was also a lot of drafting and everyone worked together to make sure no one was overworked.

That and most of the movies he watched made having a desk job look fantastic.

Those were two reasons anyway.

His parents were probably the third reason since they were already engineers and he'd heard a lot of painful stories about how people lost their fingers or burned themselves with torches.

His father had come home with bad burns along his arms once. It had taken quite a few skin-grafts and loads of medication before those faded away.

"But I was still curious about it... so I took one class and ended up really liking the people and the work so... yeah."

Maybe he could ask Chakri to help Lard Nar.

If her re-integrator could repair his hand, it should be able to fix his friend's missing fingers and give him back his eye.

He could at least ask... what was the worst that could happen?

Actually he shouldn't be thinking about the worst thing since that would definitely stop him from asking.

First he should get Lard Nar something to eat though.

He grasped his friend by the wrist and began pulling him along.

"Let's get you something to eat," Laes suggested.

"When's the last time you ate something?" Lard Nar asked as he allowed himself to be led towards the food storage facility.

"Let's get us both something to eat," Laes corrected himself since he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten anything too.

He figured his inconsistent appetite was probably a side effect of the medication he was taking.

He should probably be keeping better track of that.

* * *

 **Random Thoughts:** Laes fainted for a normal reason! He can hardly believe it.

I also wanted to note how Vort's close relationship with Irk impacted their economy. Lard Nar even changed his career path over it, though having both engineering and military skills helped him survive and lead the Resisty, so it wasn't the worst thing ever. Or maybe it was.


	24. Chapter 24

**Abducted**

Everything was blindingly white for some reason... hold on... why did everything smell so good? It kind of smelled like flowers or something...

His father's team had gotten the water back on but even if everyone had taken a shower it shouldn't smell this flowery.

His eyes were open. He was pretty sure of this because he wanted to close them. He tried turning his head, but he couldn't move for some reason.

Oh no... maybe his spine suddenly decided to make him paralyzed for life. Getting impaled was too much for his body to take after all... but then he'd had some movement up until now... why couldn't he turn his head at least?

He tried moving his fingers... Nothing.

He attempted to blink. That wasn't working very well.

Why couldn't he move?

There was something attached to his head too. Wires...? There were wires. What could have...

 _Invaders!_ His brain screamed the obvious answer.

No no no.

He tried harder to move and was met with just as much failure as before.

How!? Why?

He'd been walking with Lard Nar and then suddenly... he couldn't remember.

Had he been teleported? Had Lard Nar been teleported?

At least he wouldn't have to eat that mushy grey tasteless goop... but no matter how horrible that substance was it would still be better than being in this situation!

There were voices, but he couldn't understand anything they were saying.

He tried to speak but no words came out. His throat must be paralyzed too. Or his tongue. Did that mean he couldn't swallow? Was he going to drool on everything?

Cripes... why was everything so bright? Was he even still on Vort...?

How far away could he have possibly been taken?

Pretty far probably considering he'd been unconscious again.

Had he been unconscious, or was that just a time space thing messing with his brain?

Usually he didn't remember fainting, but he could at least remember waking up most of the time.

"There, he should be able to understand us now."

Ok... it sounded like one of the voices from before was now speaking his language... or Irken. He had to think about it for a second. No, that was definitely the Vortian language.

With their translator technology it didn't really matter if they learned Irken, though most Vortians still had to learn some of that language anyway, just in case their technology failed probably... but then Irkens had their PAKs which could translate any language so wasn't learning their language kind of pointless?

That wasn't the only pointless thing he learned in school now that he thought about it.

"His thoughts are all over the place... do you think he'll be able to hear us?"

"Vortian, calm yourself. If you understand me think: 'yes I can understand.'"

He would have liked to think that, but right now he was focusing on how bright the lights were. He couldn't see anyone, but he could hear them.

Also his brain was still freaking out about not being able to move.

Then the lights dimmed and he could see the Invaders standing over him. Their voices sounded masculine, but he couldn't tell if they were girls or not because he'd only ever seen Chakri in her disguise, and she was small... and... was she even a she?

She looked and sounded like a young female Vortian so he just kind of assumed.

The Invaders looked even more vibrant green-blue than the old grainy video showed. Their antennae were longer than an Irken's, but they were the same black colour.

Their antennae also seemed to come from their foreheads which was kind of different.

They didn't appear to have wings, but then it was possible they had lost them over the many years they'd been absent from this part of the universe.

Where had the Invaders gone? Why were they back? How many were here? Why were they here?

He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was currently too paralyzed to make any words come out.

"Chakri's reports said these creatures were intelligent, but I'm beginning to question that assessment..." one of the Invaders remarked.

Its voice sounded female, and it seemed to be holding something in its hands which it let go of.

The thing began floating beside this Invader.

"We should just dissect it and be done with it."

"Why do you always have to bring dissection into everything you do?" one of the not female sounding ones asked. "There are other ways to learn about people besides cutting them open and removing their brain."

A brain? Oh no. This was even worse than the severed head paranoia he had before...

A brain in a jar. What could he do as a brain in a jar?

He couldn't even be a proper prop in a horror house like that. All he could do was become food for those brain eating worm parasites.

"This Vortian has a sense of humour."

No he didn't... this was a legitimate concern.

"Don't worry about her," the second male sounding Invader remarked. "She always wants to cut things open to learn about them, but we have laws against that now."

"Our laws only protect intelligent life forms," the female sounding Invader reminded the other two.

She was also a bit larger than the others were, and more colourful.

Maybe she really was female then.

They were the ones that laid eggs in... oh Galre... he needed to think about something else right now.

The killer death planet. Getting eaten by those giant flying worm creatures. Almost exploding on Foodcourtia. Anything but that... please brain.

"He knows about the implanting process. No wonder he's panicking," the first probably male one spoke. "Paralyzing him is just making his anxiety worse."

Were the Invaders reading his mind right now...?

"It needs to be paralyzed if we want to safely remove that device," the one called Delarla insisted. "Also the connections from its legs to its spine appear to have been severed. That will require the other machinery."

"Let's get started then," the first one to speak said. "Since we already have him under our paralysis, I suggest we test his organs for degeneration."

All of them started moving around...

He wasn't sure how but he was suddenly lying on his face for some reason.

Hold on... where were his clothes? Didn't they teleport his clothes with him? What if his parents find his clothes lying somewhere back at the prison and they get worried and start asking people to keep an eye out for their "naked son?"

Oh no... they would do that too.

"We took them off here, so stop thinking that nonsense," Delarla stated in a grumpy sounding tone.

Cripes. They really were reading his mind. Hopefully he wouldn't think anything too embarrassing... although it was kind of too late to worry about that probably.

"You know he can't help what he's thinking about," the first guy remarked.

"You too Sevai, be quiet."

Laes wasn't too sure how he ended up floating, but he was definitely floating above the table now, and he still wasn't able to move.

If he fell he'd smack face-first into the table. He wouldn't be able to catch himself. He also had no idea what the Invaders were doing.

"It's a standard internal foreign object extraction. There's nothing to be concerned about," the Invader who hadn't been named yet briefly explained.

He felt a small pinch near his spine. Then there were vibrations. Was that a low dose of electricity just now?

"There. That was pretty painless wasn't it?" Sevai said, holding the small metal device with flashing red lights for Laes to see.

"The Irkens placed this inside of you... it was working to stimulate some movement, but it wasn't working adequately enough to not cause you discomfort. We are going to rework your nervous system between your legs and spine, and also reconnect these to the neural pathways in your brain. That will get you moving like new, or however that expression goes."

As Sevai spoke the nameless one began placing something on the metal table. There were wires attached to it and it seemed to somehow plug into the table without actually plugging into a plug? The cord just kind of dissolved into the metal surface somehow.

Sevai handed the Irken device over to Delarla who took it to a smaller table and placed it in a small see-through containment unit. Then he made some motions and Laes found himself being lowered onto his back.

Whatever they'd put on the table felt soft and almost hot actually. Then there were more vibrations from his legs to his head. Something was also pressing against his spine.

Then something was jammed into his abdomen.

His mind raced in circles.

It should hurt, but he didn't feel pain. What was that? Was it an egg? Oh Vort please don't let it be an egg...

"We're taking some samples," Sevai told him.

The Invader was holding his head, grimacing.

"There's no need to panic..."

Then Laes felt two pricks: one in his neck and the other in his arm.

"I am going to remove our paralysis toxin and replace it with a serum that will increase and speed up your body's natural healing capabilities. This particular mixture should also recognize the inactive nerves and give them a boost which, with the help of the current, will restart them fairly quickly," Sevai explained. "We're using the heat to direct your immune system to the place of your injury."

Knowing what was going on made him feel a bit better. Slowly his movements started to increase. His fingers twitched and he was able to blink much more consistently than before.

"You're releasing it too early," Delarla insisted. "There are rules and protocols for a reason."

"By the time he is able to sit up, the treatment will be done," Sevai told her. "He seems non-violent enough to warrant some leniency. He has not thought about attacking us since he's been here."

"It has attacked an Irken before," Delarla stated.

"It was in self-defense."

"And you don't think it wants to defend itself right now?"

Were they talking about that time he accidentally managed to stab Darden?

That hadn't been a fun experience... The energy dagger somehow managed to get stuck in the Irken's armour, leaving him completely defenceless.

If the Tallest hadn't stepped in he would have probably been hacked to pieces.

"It also has positive thoughts about the Tallest," Delarla remarked a bit more strongly.

"Yes... but anyway you look at it, the Tallest have helped him before."

"And why have they been helping you?" Delarla's voice lowered as she loomed over him.

 _I'm pretty sure they only helped me out because they think I'm funny. Was funny. I'm really not that funny though._

Plus the Vortians used to be allied with Irk. That might have helped a little bit maybe. Really though, Tallest Red and Purple were both strange and unpredictable, and staying away from them was probably the better idea.

Laes squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to look into hers anymore.

His planet and Irk would probably still be allied if that space worm... if Zim hadn't turned it into that thing...

Zim. He had Invader programming. So did Bann. Did the Invaders have something to do with that or was it something that had been left over from a long time ago?

In any case, he was pretty sure Vort's government officials wouldn't have agreed with the Tallests' "Impending Doom" idea, but since their economy had become so dependent on Irken interests, he couldn't say that his people wouldn't have gone along with it anyway.

Vort also had a pretty good foreign exchange program though. People from all over the galaxy would pay a lot of monies to study science and engineering in Vortian schools.

There were also quite a few who stayed and became qualified personnel in their labs and research stations.

In that way the economy might not have completely tanked if the Irkens cut-off their funding, but there sure would have been a lot of job cuts...

Of course having a horrible economy would have been better than not having a planet anymore.

* * *

They were gone...?

Darden knelt down and touch the floor where Laes and Lard Nar had last been standing. It was cold, and there hadn't been any flash of light, so whatever took them hadn't emitted a lot of energy. His eyes narrowed as he stood up and looked around. Had anyone else seen them disappear?

The Vort-child Laes had been talking to earlier was looking at him from across the room.

No one else seemed to have taken notice...

He decided to speak to Ryter about what he'd witnessed.

Surprisingly the former prison guard didn't have the Vortling with him. Instead he seemed to be on standby for Veena who had one of the reprogrammed soldiers hooked up to her computer again. It was the same soldier: the one whose PAK hadn't been badly damaged.

It seemed despite Lard Nar's best efforts there was no way to revive a PAK once it had lost all of its power like that. Hooking it up to the computer and trying to restart it with currents hadn't worked.

At least the Vortians had a model of a PAK even if the data inside was gone.

"I need to speak with you," he said to Ryter as he stopped a few steps away.

Ryter glanced over at him. "Right now?" he questioned, uncrossing his arms and standing up straight. He gestured at the unconscious Irken lying on the floor.

"If he gets up, I need to be here to knock him back down."

"It's fine," Veena spoke without looking away from the monitor. She was typing again, and she had a scowl on her face. "I'm still trying to get in, so I can't access anything that would cause him to wake up."

"And what if he wakes up on his own?" Ryter asked, flicking an antennae forward.

Veena stopped typing long enough to hold up a large wrench.

"I'll knock him in the head with this," she replied, not sounding the least bit worried.

She placed it back down on the desk and continued to type.

Ryter sighed. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

No matter how confident that Vortian acted, there was no way she would be able to bring down an Irken soldier on her own.

Darden led the former prison guard away from the noisy activity in the cafeteria.

Once they were part-way down a dark and empty hallway he stopped and turned to the other Irken.

"Laes and Lard Nar disappeared a few moments ago," he said.

"Disappeared?" Ryter repeated, frowning.

"They were both walking through the cafeteria and suddenly they were gone," Darden stated.

He wanted to hear the other Irken's opinion on the matter.

"Hm..." Ryter's eyes narrowed and he rubbed his chin. "Are you sure you just didn't lose sight of them? We are in a room full of Vortians."

Darden glowered at Ryter who raised his hands in self-defence.

"Lard Nar wasn't wearing prison clothes," Darden reminded him.

"Right... and they both vanished at the same time?"

"Yes, but there was no light or heat... nothing that would indicate they were transported somewhere else."

"Interesting."

"I'm looking for your opinion on this."

"Well..." Ryter rubbed the back of his head and glanced down at the floor for a moment. He was frowning in thought. "Did anyone else see anything?"

"Only that girl Laes had been talking to earlier."

Ryter looked up at him again. "Shouldn't you talk to her about it?"

"Why? She's a Vort-brat and hardly worth speaking to."

"I'm going to have to disagree with you," Ryter remarked, and his antennae flicked back. "Even at a young age Vortlings are known to be quite intelligent."

"I am aware of this..."

"Then go talk to her." He clasped Darden's shoulder and smiled. "Maybe she saw something you didn't."

He turned around and started walking through the cracked and broken hallway towards the cafeteria.

"That's all you have to say about it?" Darden questioned him.

Ryter abruptly stopped walking, but he didn't turn around.

"If they disappeared, there's nothing we can do... you know that," he responded as a matter of fact.

Then he stepped out into the cafeteria, probably intent on rejoining Veena.

Darden balled his hands into fists and punched the wall.

He didn't want to accept there was nothing he could do. He had been tasked to protect Laes for Tallest sake... protecting one Vortian shouldn't be this difficult.

Standing around wasn't an option right now. He needed to find them.

Rubbing his sore hand, he ground his teeth together and closed his eyes. He was angry at himself even though he knew there was nothing he could have done to stop whatever had teleported the Vortians away.

"Are you ok Mister?" someone asked, and his eyes snapped open as he turned towards Chakri who was peering down the hall at him.

"Yes..." he replied, letting go of his injured hand and straightening his posture. "I'm fine."

His eyes narrowed at her. She had also seen Laes and Lard Nar disappear.

"Did you see two Vortians vanish earlier?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.

It's not like he had anything to lose by asking.

"Yes," she replied with a knowing smile. "Mother took them away."

"Your mother took them?" Darden asked, scowling. "Why?"

"Because I asked her to," the small Vort-thing responded, clasping her hands behind her back. "Your people broke them. They need to be fixed."

"Where are they right now?" Darden asked as he approached her.

She pointed up.

"They're in mother's ship. You can't see it. You can't see our technology."

She lowered her hand back down.

"Don't worry. Your friends seem nice. Mother doesn't hurt nice aliens; only mean ones."

Laes would probably be fine then... that Vortian didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body...

His antennae fell and his eyes widened slightly.

Lard Nar had led a rebellion... but that didn't mean he was a naturally violent person. Besides, if these strangers were the same ones who reprogrammed the Irkens then they probably wouldn't take offence to the Vortian's resistance.

There were a lot of questions he should be asking, but he already knew there was a race of aliens with superior technology that seemed intent on reprogramming Irkens.

He knew they had to be nearby, and whatever had teleported Laes and Lard Nar wasn't something he would be familiar with or have any knowledge about.

It also sounded like this Vort-brat was one of these creatures..

"Where are they?" He asked.

He was standing in front of her now, looking down at her as she stared up at him.

"Can you take me there?"

"I can," she remarked. "But you'll be reprogrammed."

"That hardly matters to me."

He would have self-destructed by now if his self-destruct button was still working. The only purpose he'd been given after he killed Bann was to protect Laes, but he also felt protective of Lard Nar.

"I need to know they're ok. Once I know that, your people can do whatever they want with me."

"Well ok... but you really will be reprogrammed," she said as she touched her arm.

A silver device appeared.

She spoke into it, in a language his PAK couldn't translate.

Suddenly he felt lighter.

Then he was standing in a foreign room that didn't appear to have a door.

* * *

 **Random thought:** And the Invaders finally appear in chapter 24! ... Just how long did I make this fic? ... uh oh.


End file.
